c?Srt«..,  -   ^_ 


EdT-rard  McCrady 


A  Sketch  of  St.  Phllir)*  s 
Church,  Chrrleston,  ^.C. 


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AN  HISTORIC  CHURCH.Va!""  ^  ""^^ 


The  Westminster  Abbey  of  South  Carolina. 


A  Sketch 


OF 


St,  Philip's  Church, 


CHARLESTON,  S.  C„ 

FROM  THE  Establishment  of  the  Church  of  England 

under  the  royal  charter  of  1655  to 

July,  1897. 


BY 


EDWARD  McCRADY,  Senior  Warden. 


CHARLESTON,  S.  C. 

The  Walker,  Evans  &  Cogswell  Co.  ,  Printers, 

Nos.  3  and  5  Broad  Street  and  117  East  Eay. 

1901. 


.C3SZ 


Reetor. 
Rev.  JOHN  JOHNSON,  D.  D. 


^Yardens. 
Edward  McCrady.  William  H.  Prioleau,  M.  D. 

Yeatrymen. 

Charles  F.  Hanckel.  .  Edward  M.  Moreland. 

John  M.  Kinloch.  Barnwell  Rhett  Burnet. 

Thomas  S.  Sinkler.  Walter  Pringle. 

Isaac  Mazyck. 


Delegates  to  the  Diocesan  Council. 

Edward  McCrady.  William  H  Prioleau,  M.  D. 

John  M.  Kinloch.  Isaac  Mazyck. 


Committee  of  Advice  Parish  Church  Home. 

H.  W.  DeSaussure,  M.  D.  Louis  deB.  McCrady. 

Theodore  D.  Jervey.  J.  North  Smith. 

R.  Heber  Screven. 


Committee  on  Finance  Parish  Church  Home. 

Caspar  A.  Chisolm.  Edward  M.  Moreland. 

W.  W,  Shackelford.  Thomas  W.  Bacot. 

George  T.  Pringle. 


Solicitor. 
Thomas  W.  Bacot. 

Secretary  and  Treasurer. 
Arthur  Mazyck. 


AN  HISTORIC  CHURCH. 


The  WESTMINSTER  Abbey  of  South  Carolina. 


A  Sketch  of  St.  Philip's  Chukch,  Charleston,  S.  C,  from 
THE  Establishment  of  the  Church  of  England,  under 
THE  E.OYAL  Charter  of  1665,  to  July,  1897. 

By  EDWARD  McCRADY,  Senior  Warden. 

The  early  history  of  St.  Philip's  Church  is  but  a  part  of  the 
colonial  history  of  South  Carolina;  and  as  it  has  been  said  of 
Westminster  Abbey  that  it  was  a  part  of  the  Constitution  of 
England,  so  St.  Philip's  was  interwoven  into  the  very  fabric 
of  the  Province. 

The  charter  of  King  Charles  II,  (1665,)  under  which  the 
colony  was  founded,  granted  unto  the  Lords  Proprietors  "the 
patronage  and  advowsons  of  all  the  churches  and  chappels" 
(i.  e.  the  power  to  name  and  appoint  ministers)  "which  as  the 
Christian  religion  shall  increase  within  the  Province,  territory, 
islets  and  limits  aforesaid,  shall  happen  hereafter  to  be  erected; 
together  with  license  and  power  to  build  and  found  churches, 
chappels  and  oratories  in  convenient  and  fit  places  within  the 
said  bounds  and  limits,  and  to  cause  them  to  be  dedicated  and 
consecrated  according  to  the  ecclesiastical  laws  of  our  Kingdom 
of  England." 

In  pursuance  of  this  provision  of  their  charter,  the  Proprie- 
tors in  the  famous  Fundamental  Constitutions,  which  they 
endeavored  to  impose,  inserted  the  following  clause  : 

"As  the  country  comes  to  be  sufficiently  planted,  and  dis- 
tributed into  fit  divisions,  it  shall  belong  to  the  Parliament  to 
take  care  for  the  building  of  churches  and   the  public  main- 


tenance  of  divines,  to  be  employed  in  the  exercise  of  religion, 
according  to  the  Church  of  England ;  which  being  the  only 
true  and  orthodox,  and  the  national  religion  of  all  the  King's 
dominions,  is  so  also  of  Carolina;  and  therefore  it  alone  shall 
be  allowed  to  receive  public  maintenance  by  grant  of  Parlia- 
ment." 

These  Fundamental  Constitutions,  as  they  were  termed, 
were  never  assented  to  by  the  people  of  the  Province,  and  so 
"were  never  constitutionally  in  force  under  the  charter.  But 
the  Church  of  England  was  accepted  by  the  colonists  as  estab- 
lished under  the  charter.  And  so  we  find  Governor  Sayle, 
Puritan  though  he  himself  was  said  to  have  been,  writing  to 
the  Proprietors  within  three  months  after  the  arrival  of  the 
colony  on  the  Ashley  (25  June,  1670,)  that  a  clergj^man  of  the 
Church  of  England  should  be  sent  to  them — "one  Mr.  Samp- 
son Bond,  heretofore  of  long  standing  in  Exeter  College  in 
Oxford,  and  ordaigned  by  the  late  Bishop  of  Exeter,  the  ole 
Do'r  Joseph  Hall."  And  again  in  a  letter  of  9tli  September, 
in  which  Forence  O'Sullivan,  Stephen  Bull,  Joseph  West, 
Ralph  Marshall,  Paul  Smith,  Samuel  West  and  Joseph  Dalton 
unite,  he  urges  the  want  of  an  able  minister  by  whose  means 
corrupted  youth  might  be  reclaimed  and  the  people  instructed. 
"  The  Israelites'  prosperity  decayed  when  their  prophets  were 
wanting,  for  where  the  ark  of  God  is,"  he  says,  "there  is  peace 
and  tranquility."  {Calendar  State  Papers  Colonial  {SainS' 
lury)  London,  1889,  202-21^6.']  The  Rev.  Mr.  Bond,  who  was 
in  Bermuda,  did  not  come,  though  the  Proprietors  offered  him 
500  acres  of  land  and  £40  per  annum  if  he  would  do  so. 

It  is  not  known  certainly  when  the  first  minister  came  into 
the  Province.  The  Rev,  Dr.  Dalcho  heads  the  list  of  the 
clergy  in  South  Carolina  with  the  name  of  Morgan  Jones 
as  being  in  the  Province  in  1660;  and  Bishop  Perry  in  his 
History  of  the  American  Episcopal  Church  ( Yol.  1,  372), 
gives  a  letter  which  first  appeared  in  the  Gentleman^ s 
Magazine  for  March,  T7IiO,  (  Yol.  10,  103-J,),  purporting  to 
have  been  written  by  this  clergyman  March  10,  1685-6, 
in  which  he  states  that  he  was  sent  from  Yirginia  by  Sir 
William    Berkeley,    the   Governor,  to   meet   the  fleet   under 


West  on  its  arrival.  The  letter  is  full  of  anaclironisms  and 
impossibilities,  and  is  manifestly  a  fabrication.  It  is  safe 
to  say  fhat  no  such  clersjyman  was  in  the  Province  at  that 
time ,  indeed,  there  was  no  Province  of  Carolina  in  1660. 

We  have  no  account  of  the  building  of  any  church  in  Old 
Town,  on  the  Ashley,  the  site  occupied  by  the  colonists  for 
the  first  ten  years  after  their  arrival  in  Carolina.  Cul- 
pepper, the  Surveyor  General  in  17Y2,  marks  a  tract  re- 
served, as  he  supposed,  for  a  minister.  Bishop  Perry  in  his 
Historij  of  the  American  Episcopal  Church,  Vol.  i,  37^2  quotes 
a  letter  of  Commissary  Johnson,  written  in  1710,  in  which 
he  states  that  the  Rev.  Atkin  Williamson  had  been  in  the 
Province  29  years,  which  would  imply  his'  arrival  in  1681. 
But  in  a  deed  of  Originall  Jackson  and  Meliscent,  his  wife, 
giving  a  tract  of  land  for  another  church,  dated  January  14, 
1680-1,  Mr.  Williamson  is  mentioned  as  then  officiating.  The 
inference  is,  therefore,  that  he  had  arrived  at  least  as  early  as 
some  time  in  1680.  Mr.  Williamson  in  1709  petitioned  the 
General  Assembly  "  to  be  considered  for  his  services  in 
officiating  as  minister  of  Charles  Town/'  and  the  Act  of  1710, 
appropriating  £.30  per  annum  to  his  support,  states  "  that  he 
had  grown  so  disabled  with  age,  sickness  and  other  infirmities 
that  he  could  no  longer  attend  to  the  duties  of  his  ministerial 
functions,  and  was  so  poor  that  he  could  not  maintain  him- 
self." {Dalrho\s  Church  Hist.,  32.)  There  was  a  clergyman  in 
Carolina  in  1689,  for  it  was  one  of  the  tyranical  acts  of  Governor 
Colleton  that  lie  fined  and  imprisoned  him  for  preaching 
what  the  Governor  considered  a  seditious  sermon.  {Hist. 
Sketches  of  So.  Ca.,  Rivers,  .'^10.)  But  who  this  minister 
was,  Mr.  Williamson  or  another,  is  not  known.  Mr.  William- 
son was  certainly  in  the  Province  at  that  time. 

ISTeither  is  it  certainly  known  when  the  first  church-build- 
ing was  erected  within  the  limits  of  the  present  city.  We  do 
know  pretty  conclusively  that  no  such  building  had  been 
erected  in  1682.  For  Thomas  Ash,  a  clerk  on  board  the 
Richmond,  the  vessel  that  brought  the  first  Huguenots  in 
1680,  in  a  description  of  Carolina  published  upon  his  return 
in  1682,  says  :    "  The  town  is  regularly  laid  out  into  large  and 


3 

capacious  streets,  which  to  buildings  is  a  great  ornament  and 
beauty.  In  it  they  have  reserved  convenient  ijlaces  for  a 
church,  town  house  and  other  iniblic  structures^  {Carrols' 
CoUection,  Vol.  5,  82.)  "We  may  safely  assume  that  no  church 
had  tlien  been  built,  for  the  writer,  who  was  so  particular  in 
saying  that  a  place  had  been  reserved  for  a  church,  would 
certainly  have  mentioned  it,  had  one  then  been  built.  The 
site  reserved  for  the  church  is  that  at  the  southeast  corner  of 
what  are  now  Broad  and  Meeting  Streets,  and  upon  it  was 
erected  the  first  St.  Philip's  Church,  where  now  stands  St. 
Michael's.  So  this  spot,  set  apart  at  the  very  inception  of  the 
city,  has  remained  until  this  day  consecrated  to  the  service  of 
God  and  separated  from  all  unhallowed,  worldly  and  common 
uses.  The  plot  reserved  was  not,  however,  nearly  as  large  as 
that  occupied  bv  the  present  Church  of  St.  Michael's  and  its 
grave  yard.  It  was  not  much  deeper  upon  Broad  Street 
than  the  length  of  the  present  church.  This  we  know  be- 
cause by  a  deed  dated  June  11,  1697,  a  lot  of  land  adjoining 
the  church  was  conveyed  '*  to  the  Right  Honorable  Pro- 
prietor Joseph  Blake,  Governor,  and  his  successors  in  trust 
for  the  use  of  St.  Philip's  Church  for  a  yard  thereunto  for- 
ever.'' {Dalcho's  Church  History,  '27.)  The  dimensions  of 
this  lot  thus  added  are  not  given.  But  again  in  1816  another 
lot  was  purchased  and  added  to  the  church  yard  which  was 
forty  feet  in  depth,  extending  from  the  present  Mansion 
House  so  as  to  include  the  iron  gate  that  opens  on  Broad 
Street,  which  leaves  but  thirty  feet  between  the  gate  and  the 
church  for  the  lot  conveyed  to  Governor  Blake  as  an 
addition  to  the  original  church  yard.  '' The  Octogenarian 
Lady,"  who  wrote  in  1855,  tells  us  that  "  the  city 
square  was  originally  the  grave  yard  of  the  first  St. 
Philip's  or  English  Church,  which  was  built  on  the  spot  where 
the  only  St.  Michael's  stands."  But  for  this  we  have 
no  other  authority.  The  Church  was  first  known  as  "  the 
Church  "  or  "  the  English  Church."  Its  distinctive  name  ''St. 
Philip's''  first  appears  in  the  deed  to  Governor  Blake  in  1697, 
above  referred  to.  Pamsay  states  that  the  first  church  was 
built  about  1690,  but  gives  no  authority.     Dr.   Dalcho  thinks 


0 

that  it  was  built  in  1681  or  1682.  As  we  have  said,  we  may 
assume  that  it  had  not  been  built  in  1682  ;  but  probably  it 
was  built  before  1690.  This  is  all  that  can  be  said  on  the  sub- 
ject. Whenever  built,  it  was  of  black  cypress  upon  a  brick 
foundation,  and  was  said  to  have  been  "large  and  stately." 
It  was  surrounded  by  a  neat  white  palisade  fence.  It  must, 
however,  have  been  very  hastily  built  and  of  unseasoned  ma- 
terials as  the  Act  of  1720  for  hastening  the  completion  of  the 
new  brick  church  which  had  been  begun  in  lYlO  recites  that 
it  "must  inevitably  in  a  very  little  time  fall  to  the  ground,  the 
timbers  beino-  rotten  and  the  whole  fabric  entirely  decayed." 
This  may  be  added  to  Dr.  Dalcho's  reasons  for  fixing  the 
earlier  date  of  its  erection. 

Though  Mr.  Williamson  was  still  officiating  in  the  colony 
he  does  not  appear  to  have  been  the  minister  of  St.  Philip's  in 
1696,  for  Dalcho  states  that  that  year,  the  Church  being  va- 
cant, the  Kev.  Samuel  Marshall,  A.  M.,  was  appointed  to  the 
cure.  Mr.  Marshall  came  out  recommended  by  the  Lord 
Bishop  of  London  and  the  Lords  Proprietors  of  the  Province 
as  a  sober,  worthy,  able  and  learned  divine,  a  recommendation 
of  which  the  Act  of  1698,  settling  a  maintenance  on  a  minister 
of  the  Church  of  England  in  Charles  Town,  declares  by  his 
devout  and  exemplary  life  and  good  doctrine  hd  had  approved 
himself  worthy.  His  rectorship  was,  however,  short ;  he  died 
of  yellow  fever  in  1699,  the  lirst  appearance  of  that  malignant 
disease  in  the  Province. 

Two  events  of  great  interest  to  the  Church  took  place  in 
the  year  1698,  during  Mr.  Marshall's  brief  ministry,  the  first 
of  which  was  the  passage  of  ^'Ati  Act  to  settle  a  maintenance 
on  a  )/imister  of  the  Church  of  England  in  Charles  Town.'' 
From  the  recital  in  this  Act  we  learn  that  Mr.  Marshall,  "out 
of  the  zeal  he  had  for  the  propagation  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, and  particularly  that  of  the  Church  of  England,"  had 
"left  a  considerable  benefice  and  honorable  way  of  living  in 
England  to  come  out  to  Caiolina,"  and  for  that  reason,  and 
upon  the  recommendation  of  the  Bishop  of  London  and  the 
Lords  Proprietors,  the  Act  provided  that  he  should  enjoy  all 


10 

the  lands,  houses,  negroes,  cattle  and  moneys  appointed  for  the 
use,  benefit  and  behoof  of  the  minister  of  Charles  Town,  and 
and  specificallj  appropriated  a  salary  of  £150  lyer  annum  to 
him  and  his  successors  for  ever  and  directed  that  a  negro  man 
and  woman  and  four  cows  and  calves  should  be  purchased  for 
his  use  and  paid  for  out  of  the  public  treasury.  This  Act 
was  passed  on  the  8th  October,  1698. 

On  the  loth  December,  in  the  same  year,  Mrs.  Afifra  Com- 
ing, widow  of  John  Coming,  deceased,  and  a  lady  of  eminent 
piety  and  liberality,  made  the  munificent  donation  of  seven- 
teen acres  of  land  (then  adjoining  the  town,  now  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  city)  to  Mr.  Marshall,  and  his  successors,  minis- 
ters of  Charles  Town.  This  is  the  Glebe  land  now  held  by 
the  two  Churches,  St.  Philip's  and  St.  Michael's  ;  the  same 
having  been  divided  between  them.  {Dalcho's  CliurGli  Hlsf.^ 
32-35.) 

Before  learning  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Marshall,  the  Proprie- 
tors; had  secured  the  services  of  the  Rev.  Edward  Marston, 
M.  A.,  for  the  settlement  on  Cooper  River,  but  upon  his  ar- 
rival in  1700  he  was  put  in  charge  of  St.  Philip's  Church  in 
the  place  of  Mr.  Marshall,  deceased.  Unfortunately,  Mr. 
Marston  was  a  person  of  very  different  disposition  and  char- 
acter from  Mr.  Marshall.  Though  recommended  bj  an 
Archbishop,  as' well  as  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  he  had  been 
a  notorious  Jacobite  ere  his  coming  to  this  Province,  and  was 
for  a  time  imprisoned  in  England  for  railing  against  the  gov- 
ernment. {Hist.  Am.  Epis.  Ch.,  Bishop  Perry.,  Yol.  1,  376.) 
He  brought  with  him  the  same  violent  passions  and  conten- 
tious disposition.  A  Jacobite  in  England  in  the  reign  of  Wil- 
liam, he  turned  with  equal  rancor  against  the  churchmen  in 
Carolina  under  Queen  Anne.  He  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
dissenters  against  the  establishment  of  the  Church  in  1704, 
and  preached  most  violently  against  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson, 
the  Governor,  and  his  party — preparing  notes,  and  keeping 
them  ready  for  use  in  the  pulpit  if  any  of  that  party  appeared 
in  the  church.  The  Lay  Commission  of  1704  was  provided 
especially  to  get  rid  of  this  minister,  who  refused  to  forbear 
from  meddling  in  politics. 


11 

Daring  the  controversy  over  the  establishment  of  the 
Church  and  the  contentions  with  Mr.  Marston,  another  minis- 
ter of  a  name  very  similar  to  his  came  into  the  Province,  and 
in  some  way  obtained  possession  of  the  rectory  of  St.  Philip's 
and  the  charge  of  the  church.     This  was  Richard  Marsden. 

No  provision  had  been  made  by  the  government  or  Church 
of  England  for  the  Episcopal  supervision  of  the  clergy  who 
came  out  to  America,  and  it  cannot  be  denied  that  many  of 
them  were  outcasts  of  the  Church  at  home,  some  of  them  of 
the  vilest  character.  Fortunately  for  the  Church  in  South 
Carolina,  as  it  happened,  blessed  with  the  aid  of  the  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  in  which  benefit  this 
Province  was  the  first  of  all  the  colonies  to  participate,  her 
clergymen,  after  the  establishment  of  the  Church,  were  men 
of  character,  fully  worthy  of  their  high  calling.  Bnt  the 
scandals  of  many  of  the  clergymen  in  the  colonies  induced  the 
Bishop  of  London,  who  claimed  a  general  jurisdiction  of  all 
the  colonial  churches,  to  send  out  commissaries,  i.  e.  presbyters 
charged  with  the  general  administration  of  the  Church  and 
supervision  of  the  clergy.  The  Church  having  been  now  es- 
tablished with  eight  clergymen  in  this  Province,  the  Bishop  of 
London  sent  out  the  Rev.  Gideon  Johnson,  an  Irish  clergy- 
man who  had  been  recommended  by  the  Archbishop  of  Dub- 
lin to  the  Bishop  of  London  as  a  suitable  person  to  act  as  his 
commissary  in  Carolina,  requesting  that  he  should  be  made  the 
minister  of  Charles  Town.  After  a  verj'  tedious  passage  Mr. 
Johnson  arrived  off  the  bar,  and  the  ship  being  unable  to  cross 
on  account  of  the  tide,  impatient  to  get  to  land  he  ventured 
in  a  small  sloop  with  other  passengers  to  proceed  to  the  town. 
Unfortunately,  a  sudden  squall  coming  up,  the  sloop  was 
driven  on  a  sand  bank,  supposed  to  have  been  Morris  Island, 
and  did  not  get  to  the  city  for  some  days.  Mr.  Johnson, 
whose  health  was  not  good,  suffered  much  from  the  exposure 
and  his  temper,  as  it  appears,  still  more  so.  T(>  add  to  his  dis- 
comfort, he  found  Mr.  Marsden  in  the  "parsonage  house," 
claiming  to  be  the  incumbent  of  St.  Philip's  Church.  In  his 
distress  he  poured  out  bitter  complaints  to  the  "Great  Bishop" 


12 

who  had  sent  him  out,  declaring  that  he  had  never  repented 
so  much  of  anything,  his  sins  only  excepted,  as  coming  to  this 
place.  He  described  the  people  to  whom  he  was  sent  as  the 
vilest  race  of  men  on  earth,  witli  neither  honor,  nor  honesty, 
nor  religion.  Marsden,  who  was  with  little  doubt  an  impos- 
ter,  as  he  could  produce  no  evidence  of  ordination,  and  could 
give  no  satisfactory  account  of  the  loss  of  his  papers,  was 
finally  ousted,  and  Commissary  Johnson  duly  installed  as  rec- 
tor of  St.  Philip's.  Dalclio  says  tliat  the  assiduity  and  piety 
of  Commissary  Johnson  soon  gained  him  tlie  affection  of  the 
people,  and  that  the  laborious  duties  of  his  parochial  cure  so 
impaired  his  health  that  he  was  given  leave  of  absence  for 
eighteen  months,  during  which  time  the  Rev.  Dr.  Le  Jau,  the 
rector  of  St.  James  Goose  Creek,  officiated  once  a  month  at 
St.  Philip's. 

In  1711  a  free  school  was  established  by  the  General  As- 
sembh^  in  connection  with  the  Society  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel,  and  placed  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Guy,  A.  M.,  who  at  the  same  time  was  appointed  as- 
sistant to  the  rector  of  St.  Philip's.  Mr.  Guy  was  the  next 
year  removed  to  the  cure  of  St.  Helena,  Beaufort,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Thomas  Morritt  as  master  of  the  school,  who 
appears  to  have  been  but  a  deacon  at  the  time,  but  who 
having  gone  to  England  returned  in  priest's  orders  in  ITlY. 
A  strange  thing  now  happened.  Commissary  Johnson  had 
been  cast  away  on  his  coming  to  the  Province  upon  a  sand 
bank.  In  the  month  of  April,  ITlfi,  the  Hon.  Charles 
Craven,  Governor  of  the  Province,  embarked  for  England, 
and  Mr.  Johnson  with  thirty  other  gentlemen  went  over 
the  bar  to  take  leave  of  him.  Again  a  sudden  squall  overset 
their  vessel,  and  Mr.  Johnson,  who  was  in  the  cabin,  lame 
with  the  gout,  was  unfortunately  drowned.  It  is  remarkable 
that  the  vessel  is  said  to  have  drifted  on  the  same  bank  on 
which  Mr.  Johnson  had  nearly  perished  when  he  first  came 
to  Carolina,  and  there  his  body  was  found.  It  was  brought  to 
the  town  and  buried  with  every  mark  of  respect  and  sorrow. 
His  parishioners  did  not  know  of  the  character  he  had  given 
of  them  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  else  perhaps  they  would  not 
have  held  Mr.  Johnson  in  such  regard. 


13 

In  England  the  two  systems,  the  Parish  and  the  Town  or 
Township,  had  existed  from  the  most  ancient  times  side  by 
side,  usually  but  not  always  coincident  in  area,  yet  separate  in 
character  and  machinery.  The  township,  which  preceded  the 
parish,  was  the  unit  of  civil  and  the  parish  the  unit  of  ecc^e^i- 
^s^^'caZ  administration.  {Blackstone,  Vol,  1,  112-16.  Stuhhs 
Cons.  Hist.,  1.  237.)  The  Puritans  of  New  England,  dis- 
affected to  the  Church,  adopted  the  township  system  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  parochial.  The  Churchmen,  who  settled  at 
Bnrbadoes,  nearly  about  the  same  time,  on  the  other  hand 
established  parishes,  and  from  time  to  time,  adding  civil  to 
the  ecclesiastical  duties  of  parochial  officers,  contented  them- 
selves with  that  organization  as  the  basis  alike  of  civil  as  of 
ecclesiastical  affairs.  The  parish  thus  became  the  unit  alike 
of  Church  and  State,  and  the  election  precinct  of  members 
of  the  Commons  House  of  Assembly.  The  Church  Act  of 
1706  adopted  the  names  of  the  parishes  in  Barbadoes  for 
those  in  this  Province,  and  in  1712  the  care  of  the  poor, 
which,  under  Governor  Archdale's  act  of  1695,  had  been  com- 
mitted to  overseers,  was  put  under  the  charge  of  the  vestries 
and  wardens  of  the  Church  in  this  Province — a  legitimate 
charge  in  their  ecclesiastical  capacity. 

In  the  same  year  by  ''  An  Act  for  the  hetter  observation  of 
the  Lord's  Day.,  commonly  called  Sunday — which  required 
all  persons  to  abstain  frcm  labor  on  that  day  ;  or  from  selling 
goods  ;  or  from  travelling,  excepting  it  be  to  go  to  a  place 
of  religious  worship  and  to  return  again,  or  to  visit  or  relieve 
the  sick ;  or  from  indulging  in  sports  or  pastimes — it  was 
made  the  duty  of  the  constables  and  church  wardens  of  St. 
Philip's,  once  in  the  forenoon  and  once  in  the  afternoon  in 
time  of  divine  service,  to  walk  through  the  town  and  to  ob- 
serve, suppress   and  apprehend   all  offenders  against  this  law 

In  1716  the  Assembly  went  further  and  adopted  the  Parish 
system  of  Barbadoes  as  a  model  of  the  government  of  this 
colony.  From  this  time  until  the  Revolution  all  elections 
in  Charles  Town  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  &c., 
were  held  at  St.  Philip's,  the  Parish  Church,  and  were  con- 
ducted by  her  wardens,  and  various  municipal  duties  were  im' 
posed  upon  her  vestry. 


14 

The  Fundamental  Constitutions  had  provided  that  "  all 
towns  should  be  governed  by  a  Mayor,  twelve  Aldermen  and 
twenty-four  of  the  Common  Council,"  but  like  most  provisions 
of  that  most  remarkable  instrument  this  was  found  imprac- 
ticable. There  was  but  one  town  in  the  Province.  And 
though  Charles  Town  had  become  a  place  of  considerable 
wealth  and  importance,  it  had  not  yet  arrived  at  a  condition 
to  warrant  so  grand  and  extensive  a  government.  There  was 
indeed  no  municipal  government  before  the  Revolution. 
Until  that  time  the  law-making  power  was  the  same  for  the 
town  as  for  the  rest  of  the  colony.  The  General  Assembly 
legislated  directly  and  passed  Acts  relating'^to  the  streets  and 
police  regulations  and  made  directly  all  such  municipal  ordi- 
nances as  are  usually  delegated  to  a  city  government.  One  of 
the  most  important  and  responsible  of  the  duties  and  powers 
imposed  upon  and  entrusted  to  the  vestries  was  that  of  assess- 
ing, levying  and  collecting  the  tax  for  the  support  of  tJie  poor 
of  the  parish.  This  was  a  peculiarly  heavy  and  troublesome 
duty  of  the  Vestry  of  St.  Philip's,  because  of  the  continual 
transient  poor  in  the  town. 

In  1722  an  attempt  was  made  to  change  this  system  of 
municipal  government,  and  an  Act  was  passed  for  the  pur- 
pose ;  but  an  outcry  was  at  once  raised  against  the  move- 
ment. A  petition  was  addressed  to  the  Hon.  James  Moore, 
Speaker,  and  the  rest  of  the  Commons  House  of  Assembly 
by  the  major  part,  it  was  said,  of  the  inhabitants  of  Charles 
Town  against  it,  and  praying  for  its  repeal  "as  they  appre- 
hended the  consequence  thereof  will  be  the  desertion  of  the 
town  by  the  inhabitants."  Among  the  signatures  to  this  pro- 
test the  number  of  Huguenot  names  is  very  noticeable  as  the 
result  of  the  protest  was  the  retention  of  so  much  of  the 
municipal  power  in  the  vestrj^  and  wardens  of  the  Church  of 
England.  A  memorial  was  sent  to  England  by  the  merchants 
of  Charles  Town  desiring  to  be  heard  by  counsel  against  the 
Act,  and  though  Francis  Younge,  who  was  then  the  agent  of 
the  Colonial  Government  in  London,  opposed  the  memorial, 
the  Lords'  Justices  in  council,  upon  a  representation  of  the 
Board  of  Trade,  approved  an  order  repealing  the  Act,  and  the 
government  of  the  town  was  left  as  it  had  been. 


15 

The  Rev.  Alexander  Garden  arrived  in  Cliarles  Town  in 
1TI9,  the  year  in  which  tlie  Proprietary  Government  was 
overthrown,  and  was  elected  Hector  of  St.  Philip's,  and  as  such 
he  faithfully  served  the  Church  for  thirty -four  years.  {DalcJio's 
Clnirch  Hisiory^  98.)  In  1710  an  Act  had  been  passed,  we 
have  mentioned,  "for  the  erecting  of  a  new  brick  churcli  at 
Charles  Town,  to  be  the  Parish  Church  of  St.  Philip's,  Charles 
Town.''  Dr.  Dalcho  states  that  it  is  not  known  at  what  period 
this  new  church  was  first  opened  for  divine  service.  He  sup- 
poses that  it  was  probably  not  before  1727  when  the  old  church, 
where  St.  Michael's  now  stands,  was  taken  down.  But  the 
exact  date  has  since  been  deiinitely  ascertained.  Dr.  Ramsay, 
in  a  note  to  his  history,  {Vol.  S,j).  IS,)  states  that  divine  ser- 
vice was  first  performed  in  the  second  St.  Philip's  Church  in 
1723,  and  in  that  of  St.  Michael's  in  1761.  Bishop  Gadsden, 
in  his  sermon  upon  the  consecration  of  the  present,  the  third 
St,  Philip's  Church  building,  also  mentions  that  the  second 
St.  Philip's  Church,  which  was  burned  in  1835,  was  opened 
for  worship  on  Easter  Day,  1723.  In  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee of  the  congregation  and  vestry  upon  the  commemora- 
tion of  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  year  since  the  congrega- 
tion of  St.  Philip's  Church  had  worshipped  upon  the  present 
site  of  the  Church,  (1874,)*  it  is  said  that  it  was  within  the 
recollection  of  some  then  living  that  there  was  a  medallion 
upon  the  tower  of  the  church  bearing  the  date  "1723" — and 
such  medallion  appears  upon  the  engraving  of  the  building, 
copies  of  which  have  been  preserved.  There  is  a  tradition, 
says  the  report,  that  for  some  time  after  the  church  was  opened, 
the  members  of  the  congregation  carried  chairs  with  them 
upon  which  they  sat  during  the  service.  This  explains  the 
confusion  of  the  periods  fixed  for  the  opening  of  the  church, 
1723  and  1724;  the  church  having  been  opened  in  1723,  before 
it  was  completed  in  1724  when  the  pews  were  allotted.^  Dr. 
Dalcho,  writing  in  1820,  thus  describes  the  building: 

*NoTE. — This  commemoration  service  was  held  on  Sundaj'^,  9th  Au- 
gust, 1874,  the  allotment  of  pews  having  been  made  in  August,  1724; 
but  the  first  se7'vice^'as  held  in  the  Church  on  Easter  Day,  1723. 

a  On  the  corner  stone  of  the  present  church  laid  after  the  burning 
of  the  old  church  in  1835,  is  this  inscription: 


16 

^' St.  Philip's  Church  stands  upon  the  east  side  of  Church  Street,  a 
few  poles  north  of  Queen  Street.  It  is  built  of  brick  and  rough  cast. 
The  nave  is  74  feet  long;  the  vestibule,  or  more  properly,  the  belfry, 
37,  the  portico  12  feet  and  22^  feet  wide.  The  church  is  62  feet  wide. 
The  roof  is  arched,  except  over  the  galleries;  two  rows  of  Tuscan  pil- 
lars support  five  arches  on  each  side,  and  the  galleries.  The  pillars  are 
ornamented  on  the  inside  with  fluted  Corinthian  Pilasters,  whose  capi- 
tals are  as  high  as  the  cherubim,  in  relief,  over  the  centre  of  each  arch, 
supporting  their  proper  cornice.  Over  the  centre  arch  on  the  south 
side  are  some  figures  in  heraldic  form  representing  the  infant  colony 
imploring  protection  of  the  King.  The  church  was  nearly  finished 
when  the  King  purchased  the  Province  of  the  Lords'  Proprietors. 
This  circumstance  probably  suggested  the  idea.  Beneath  the  figures 
is  this  inscription:  Pro2nus  res  aspice  nostras.  This  has  been  adopted 
as  the  motto  of  the  seal  of  St.  Philip's  Church.  Over  the  middle  arch 
on  the  north  side  is  this  inscription:  Deus  mihi  sol,  with  armorial 
bearings,  or  the  representation  of  some  stately  edifice. 

"  Each  pillar  is  now  ornamented  with  a  piece  of  monumental  sculp- 
ture, some  of  them  with  bas-relief  figures,  finely  executed  by  some  of 
the  first  artists  in  England.  These  add  greatly  to  the  beauty  and 
solemnity  of  the  edifice.  There  is  no  chancel;  the  communion  table 
stands  within  the  body  of  the  church.  The  east  end  is  a  panelled 
wainscot  ornamented  with  Corinthian  pilasters,  supporting  the  cornice 
of  a  fan-light.  Between  the  pilasters  are  the  usual  Tables  of  the  Dec- 
alogue, the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Apostles  Creed.  The  organ  was  im- 
ported from  England  and  had  been  used  at  the  coronation  of  George 
II.  The  galleries  were  added  subsequently  to  the  building  of  the 
Church.  There  are  88  pews  on  the  ground  floor  and  60  in  the  galleries. 
Several  of  the  pews  were  built  by  individuals  at  different  times  with 
the  consent  of  the  vestry.  The  Communion  Plate  was  a  donation  to 
the  Church.  Two  Tanka'-ds,  one  Chalice  and  Patine,  and  one  large 
Alms  Plate  were  given  by  the  Government  and  have  each  the  Royal 
Arms  of  England  engraved  on  each  piece.  One  Tankard,  one  Chalice 
and  Patine,  and  one  large  Alms  Plate  have  engraved  on  them;  The 
Oift  of  Col.  Wm.  Rhett,  to  the  Church  of  St.  Philip,  Charles  Town, 
South  Carolina.  One  large  Paten,  with  I.  F.  R.,  engraved  on  it.  The 
pulpit  and  reading  desk  stand  at  the  east  end  of  the  Church,  at  the  N. 
E.  corner  of  the  middle  aisle.    The  front  of  the  Church   is  adorned 

St.  Philip's  Church, 
The  1st  edifice  built  of  wood,  1681,  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  St. 

Michael's  Church,  was  taken  down  1727. 
The  2d  built  of  brick,  commenced   1710-11,   finished  1723,  and  burnt 

February  15,  1835. 
This  3d  covering  the  greater  portion  of  the  site,  will  be  of  the  dimen- 
sions and  order  of  architecture  and  after  the  plan  of  the  second, 
with  addition  of  a  chancel. 


17 

with  a  portico,  composed  of  four  Tuscan  columns,  supporting  a  double 
pediment.  The  two  side  doors,  which  open  into  the  belfry,  are  orna- 
mented with  round  columns  of  the  same  order,  which  support  angular 
pediments  that  project  12  feet;  these  give  to  the  whole  building  the 
form  of  a  cross  and  add  greatl)'  to  its  beauty.  This,  however,  is  some- 
what obscured  by  the  intervention  of  the  wall  of  the  grave  yard.  Pi- 
lasters of  the  same  order  with  the  columns  are  continued  round  the 
body  of  the  Church,  and  a  parapet  wall  extends  around  the  roof. 
Between  each  of  the  pilasters  is  one  lofty  sashed  window.  Over  the 
double  pediment  was  originally  a  gallery  with  balusters  which  has 
since  been  removed  as  a  security  against  fire.  From  this  the  steeple 
rises  octagonal ;  in  the  first  course  are  circular  sashed  windows  on  the 
cardinal  sides ;  and  windows  with  Venetian  blinds  in  each  face  of  the 
second  course,  ornamented  with  Ionic  pilasters,  whose  entablature  sup- 
ports a  gallery.  Within  this  course  are  two  bells.  An  octagonal 
tower  rises  from  within  the  gallery,  having  sashed  windows  on  every 
other  face,  and  dial  plates  of  the  clock  on  the  cardinal  sides.  Above  is 
a  dome  upon  which  stands  a  quadrangular  lantern.  A  vane,  in  the 
form  of  a  cock,  terminates  the  whole.  Its  height  probably  is  about  80 
feet. 

"St.  Philip's  Church  has  always  been  greatly  admired.  Its  heavy 
structure,  lofty  arches  and  massive  pillars,  adorned  with  elegant  sepul- 
chral monuments,  cast  over  the  mind  a  solemnity  of  feeling  highly 
favorable  to  religious  impressions.  The  celebrated  Edmund  Burke, 
speaking  of  this  Church,  says,  "it"  is  spacious  and  executed  in  a  very 
handsome  taste,  exceeding  everything  of  that  kind  which  we  have  in 
America  ;'  and  the  biographer  of  Whitefield  calls  it  'a  grand  Church 
resembling  one  of  the  new  Churches  in  London.'  "* 

The  Revd.  Wm.  Tredwell  Bull,  commissary  to  the  Rt.  Rev. 
Lord  Bishop  of  London  in'  South  Carolina,  in  "  a  short  memo- 
rial of  the  present  state  of  the  Church  and  Clergy  in  His 
Majesty's  Province  of  South  Carolina,"  (dated  at  London, 
August  10,  1723),  speaks  of  St.  Philip's  as  follows:  "In  the 
said  city"  {Charles  City,  as  he  calls  it)  "  tliere  is  a  newly 
erected  Church,  not  yet  entirely  finished,  a  large,  regular  and 
beautiful  building,  exceeding  any  that  are  in  His  Majesty's 
Dominions  in  America." 

In  a  full  and  particular  account  of  the  Parishes  and  Churches 

^Inscriptions  from  tablets  on  the  pillars  and  walls  of  the  Church  at 
the  time  of  its  destruction  by  fire,  in    1835.  will  be  found  in  Dalcho's 
Church  History,   pp.  122-126,  and  in  the  first  Year  Book  of  the  City. 
1880.  (Mayor  Courtenay.) 
2 


lb 

ill  the  Province  in  1766,  bj  the  Rev.  Charles  Woodinason,  the 
Church  is  thus  described: 

"  St.  Philip's,  Charles  Towu— This  Church,  is  allowed  to  be  the  most 
elegant  religious  edifice  in  British  America.  It  is  built  of  brick; 
length  100  feet,  breadth  sixty,  height  forty,  with  a  cupola  of  fifty  feet, 
with  two  bells  and  a  clock  and  bell.  It  has  three  porticos  before  the 
west,  south,  and  north  doors.  It  was  built  from  the  model  of  the 
Jesuits  Church  at  Antwerp,  having  galleries  around  exceeding  well 
planned  for  sight  and  hearing.  In  this  Church  is  a  good  organ.  The 
great  organ  has  sixteen  stops;  the  choir  organ  eight.  It  is  well  orna- 
mented ;  has  rich  pulpit  cloths  and  coverings  for  the  altar  and  a  very 
large  service  of  plate.  A  lecturer  (or  assistant)  is  maintained  here 
by  the  public.  *  *  *  Divine  service  is  performed  here  with  great 
decency  and  order  both  on  holy  days  and  week  days. 

The  present  Meeting  Street  was  originally  called  Church 
Street,  but  upon  tlie  removal  of  St.  Pliilip's  to  the  present  site 
of  the  Churcli,  tlie  street  on  vrhich  it  was  erected  took  the 
name  of  Churcli  Street,  and  the  old  Church  Street  became 
Meeting  Street  from  the  white  ''Meeting  House"  or  Congre- 
gational Church,  now  known  as  the  Circular  Church. 

The  register  of  births,  marriages  and  deaths  still  exists  form 
the  year  1720,  but  we  have  no  minutes  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  Yestry  before  1732.  On  the  22nd  August,  1748,  the 
Vestry  ordered  'that  Mrs.  Woolford  be  again  apply'd  to  about 
the  journal  of  the  Vestry  before  the  year  1782,  which  from 
the  demise  of  Mr.  Heyman,  the  former  clerk  of  the  Vestry, 
hath  been  missing  and  ac(juaint  her  that  unless  she  will  make 
oath  that  she  hath  not  that  book  in  her  possession  or  knows 
not  in  wliose  possession  it  is  that  she  will  be  prosecuted — that, 
upon  Mrs.  Woolford  exculpating  herself  in  such  manner,  an 
advertisement  be  put  in  the  Gazette  offering  a  reward  of  five 
pounds  to  any  person  that  shall  produce  the  same."  Mrs. 
Woolford  must  have  exculpated  herself,  for  we  lind  adver- 
tisements for  the  lost  minute  book  in  the  Gazette  of  the  6th 
and  12th  of  September  following.  The  book  was  not  recov- 
ered, and  this  most  valuable  historical  record  is  thus  lost  to  us. 

By  the  Church  Act  of  1706  the  vestrymen  and  wardens 
were  required  to  take  the  usual  oaths  required  by  Parliament 


39 

*' and  likewise  to  snbscrilie  the  test."  The  minutes  for  the 
3^ear  1733  and  1734  contain  merely  the  entry  that  the  vestry- 
men and  wardens  took  tlie  several  oatlisand  qnaliiied.  But  at 
every  Easter  election  afterwards  the  '"test''  is  written  out  and 
subscribed  by  each  vestryman  and  warden  elected.  The 
"test"  for  1735,  for  instance,  is  in  these  words: 

"We,  the  Vestry  and  Churchwardens  of  the  Parish  of  St.  Phihp's, 
<Jharles-town,  who  have  hereto  subscribed  our  names,  do  declare  that 
we  believe  that  there  is  no  trans-substautiation  whatever  in  the  Sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  Supper,  or  in  the  elements  of  bread  and  wine,  after 
consecration  thereof  by  any  person  whatsoever.  Signed  the  Seven- 
teenth day  of  April,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  One  Thousand  Seven 
Hundred  and  Thirty-flve." 

Ill  the  first  vestry,  of  which  we  have  the  record,  we  lind  the 
names  of  three  Huguenots — Col.  Samuel  Prioleau,  son  of 
Elias  Prioleau  the  "Pastor"  and  the  most  distinguished  and 
prominent  of  all  the  Huguenots  who  came  to  this  Province — 
Mr.  Gabriel  Manigault,  the  son  of  the  emigrant  and  of  Judith 
Manigault,  a  most  interesting  sketch  of  whose  remarkable  ca- 
reer is  found  in  the  4th  number  of  the  Transactions  of  the 
Huguenot  Society  of  South  CaroHna — and  Mr.  John  Abram 
Motte,  the  founder  of  the  distinguished  family  of  that  name. 
These  gentlemen  with  the  other  vestrymen,  took  the  oath  of 
♦'supremacy,  subscribed  the  "test"  just  quoted,  and  qualified. 
We  give  a  few  entries  from  the  journals,  showing  that  these 
offices  were  no  sinecures  and  indicating  the  municipal  and 
other  duties  imposed  upon  the  Vestry  and  Wardens  of  the 
Church,  from  whicli  it  will  appear  that  there  is  little  reason 
for  wonder  that  persons  had  to  be  forced  to  serve  under  penal- 
ties for  refusing. 

An  account  is  opened  '"'"The  Parish  of  St.  Pltilijp's  Churoh, 
Charles  Tow7ie,  William  Rhett  and  Henry  Housea,  Church 
Wardensr  It  charges  them  with  cash  received  from  Gov- 
ernor Nicholson  ;  from  the  former  church  wardens ;  from 
"Mr.  Joseph  Wragg,  out  of  the  Saci-ament  money  ;"  from  "a 
legacy  for  the  poor ;"  &c.  It  credits  them  with  "cash  gave 
for  the  support  of  John  Newton,  turned  into  the  streets,  £6." 


20 

"Ditto  Thomas  Garrat,  sick  with  the  flnx,  £2.10."  "Ditto 
Mary  Mathews,  in  a  poor  and  miserable  condition,  £15,"  and 
so  on  day  by  day.  We  find  them  collecting  fines  "for  a  man 
swearing  without  a  book  ;"  paying  money  "for  six  days  work- 
ing the  streets,"  and  "for  filling  up  the  pond."  In  1742  we 
find  these  entries — "10  Nov'm'  ",  "By  Ditto  received  from 
Benjamin  Smith  a  fine  recovered  by  Justice  Gibbs  from  Peter 
Brez,  for  knocking  down  Mr.  Pinckney's  negro,  £2."  "Ditto 
Mr.  Tributed  for  retailing  rum  on  Sunday,  10s."  "Ditto 
sundry  fines  received  from  several  persons  for  walking  about 
streets  on  Sunday  during  divine  service,  19s.  6d-"  The  same, 
April  11,  1Y43,  £1.  5s.  3d.  August  3,  1745.  "for  a  white  man 
beating  a  negro,"  £2.  "August  7,  1747,  by  ditto  of  Mr.  Gibbs 
for  persons  beating  negroes,  £6.  February  24,  1749,  received 
Coll  Austin  for  a  white  man  strikii]g  a  negro,  £2.  Ditto  James 
Larden,  striking  a  negro  £2,"  &c.  &c. 

In  1733  Mr.  John  Laurens,  another  Huguenot,  father  of 
Henry  Laurens,  of  Revolutionary  fame,  is  elected  Church 
Warden,  and  on  the  9th  of  April  acquaints  the  Yestry  that 
Dr.  John  Turner  was  willing  to  take  care  of  the  poor  of  the 
parish  and  look  after  them  for  £100  current  money,  which 
the  Vestry  agreed  to  give.  On  the  5th  July  1734  tlie  Vestry 
signed  the  tax  list  for  £1,000  towards  the  relief  and  mainte- 
nance of  the  poor — i!i  1738  the  tax  list  is  signed  for  £1,534  8s. 
3d,  &c.  &c. 

In  1734  the  Vestry  presented  a  memorial  to  the  Assembly 
representing  the  poor  accommodation  for  the  lodging  and  care 
of  the  sick  and  the  extravagant  charges  for  tlie  same,  the 
trouble  of  the  officers,  and  the  suffering  of  the  sick  in  conse- 
quence and  ask  for  the  appropriation  of  so  much  of  the  square 
piece  of  ground  belonging  to  the  public  in  Charles  Town  as 
might  be  necessary  whereon  to  erect  proper  buildings  for  the 
use  of  the  work  house  and  hospital,  and  for  authority  to  erect 
buildings  at  their  own  proper  charge.  August  3,  1738,  the 
Wardens  advertised  that  the  number  of  poor  and  sick  suffer- 
ing from  smallpox  daily  increases,  and  the  cost  as  well  as  the 
difliculty  in  providing  lodging  and  nurses  is  so  great  that  they 
have  hired  a  house  and  provided  proper  attention  for  the  re- 


21 

ceptioii  of  all  such  as  are  the  objects  of  charity.  The  hospital 
was  erected  (See  Statutes  Yol.  VI 1-90,)  and  appears  to  have 
been  in  operation  as  we  lind  on  IMarch  7,  1748,  an  advertise- 
ment in  the  Gazette  that  Frederick  Holzendorff,  chirurgeon, 
of  St.  Philip's  Hospital,  in  Charles  Town,  has  removed  his 
residence. 

The  death  of  Mr.  Commissary  Johnson  in  1716  left  the 
Bishop  of  London  without  a  representative  in  this  part  of 
his  charge.  The  number  of  clergymen  iiicreasing,  the  Rev. 
Alexander  Garden  was  appointed  by  Dr.  Gibson,  Bishop  of 
London,  in  1726, his  commissary  for  the  Provinces  of  North 
and  South  Carolina  and  the  Bahama  Islands.  We  liave  no 
record  of  the  conduct  of  the  Rev.  Gideon  Johnson  in  the 
discharge  uf  his  duties  as  Commissary  ;  but  Commissary 
Garden,  we  iind,  held  annual  visitations  regularly  in  this 
Province.  These  visitations  were  in  the  form  of  meetings  of 
the  clergy  convened  for  the  purpose,  at  which  each  clergyman 
was  required  to  exhibit  to  the  Commissary  his  Letters  of 
Orders  and  License  to  perform  the  ministerial  office  in  the 
Province,  and  a  report  of  his  parochial  services.  A  sermon 
was  preached  at  each  of  these  visitations  by  some  one  of  the 
clergy  appointed  for  the  purpose.  The  visitations  were  held 
in  St.  Philip's  Church. 

From  1742  we  find  recorded  in  the  journals  of  the  Vestry 
each  year  the  elections  on  Monday  in  Easter  week,  pursuant 
to  Act  of  Assembly,  not  only  of  the  Vestry  and  Wardens  of 
the  Church,  but  of  such  municipal  officers  as  five  Commis- 
sioners of  the  High  \vay,  five  Commissioners  of  the  Markets, 
six  Packers,  five  Wood  Measurers  and  five  Fire  Masters.  Thus 
were  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  affairs  of  the  town  settled  at 
the  porch  of  the  church. 

After  the  establishment  of  the  Free  School  by  the  Assem- 
bly, December  12,  1712,  the  school  of  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  was  united  with  the  Provincial 
institution,  and  the  school  thus  formed  was  continued  in  con- 
nection with  St.  Philip's  Church  until  the  Revolution.  In  the 
year  1728  the  Rev.  Mr.  Morritt  was  removed  from  the  charge 


22 

of  the  school  npou  his  appointment  to  tlie  cure  of  Prince 
George's,  Winyaw,  and  the  Rev.  John  Lambert,  A.  M.,  was 
appointed  by  the  Society  tlieir  school  master  in  Charles  Town 
and  afternoon  preacher  at  St.  Philip's  Church.  He  died, 
howevei-,  the  following  year,  and  was  buried  in  the  church 
yard,  where  the  stone  which  marks  his  grave  still  stands.*  In 
1736  the  parochial  duties  at  St.  Philip's  had  so  increased  that 
the  Rector  found  it  impracticable  to  perform  them  alone.  The 
Assembly,  therefore,  May  29,  1730,  appropriated  £50  sterling 
per  annum,  to  be  increased  by  such  further  sum  as  the  people 
might  be  willing  to  subscribe,  for  the  support  of  an  assistant, 
and  upon  +his  provision  the  Yestry,  June  8,  1736,  solicited  the 
Bishop  of  London  to  recommend  and  appoint  some  suitable 
person  to  assist  the  Rec'or  in  his  pastoral  duties.  The  Rev. 
William  Orr,  A.  M.,  was  accordingly  licensed  to  perform 
divine  service  in  this  Province,  and  upon  his  arrival  was 
elected  assistant  to  the  Rector. 

An  attempt  was  made  in  1739  toobtain  a  "  ring  of  six  bells" 
and  a  clock  for  the  Church,  and  the  sum  of  £'1,192  currency, 
equal  to  £149  sterling,  was  raised  by  subscription  for  the  pur- 
pose, but  this  sum  was  insufficient.  Five  years  later  the  Vestry 
ordered  a  good,  plain,  substantial  church  clock,  completely 
fitted  for  the  steeple,  to  go  for  eight  days,  and  also  a  good 
bell  of  about  600  weight.  The}'  were  sent,  but  upon  their 
arrival  proved  unsatisfactory.  The  stroke  of  the  clock  was 
weak,  and  the  bell,  the  Yestry  said,  sounded  as  from  a  dung- 
hill, and  so  low  that  it  could  not  be  heard  at  two  or  three 
hundred  yards.     They  were  returned. 

Two  events  of  interest  in  connection  with  St.  Philip's 
Church  took  place  in  the  year  1 740.  These  were  the  trial  of 
the  'Rev.  George  Whitefield  by  Connnissary  Garden's  ecclesi- 
astical court,  and  the  great  lire  of  that  year. 

Mr.  Whitefield,  who  had  come  out  to  America  to  aid  Ogle- 
thorpe in  the  settlement  of  Georgia,  had  previously  been  to 
Charlestown.  In  August,  1738,  while  about  to  embark  for 
Europe,  he  had  paid  a  visit  to  Commissary  Garden,  and,  at  his 

*See  the  inscription  given  in  Dalcho's  Church  History,  p.  114. 


23 

request,  preached  in  St.  Philip's  tlie  next  Snnday,  nioniiiiir 
and  evening',  and  was  most  cordially  thanked  by  him.  He  re- 
turned in  1740,  after  havin":  had  a  most  wonderful 
career  in  England,  where  his  auditories  had  often  consisted 
of  20,000  persons;  but  where  he  had  given  occasion 
to  the  Bishop  of  London  for  publishing  a  charge  to 
his  clergy  to  av'oid  alike  the  extreme  of  enthusiasm  and 
lukewarmness.  He  had  come  this  time  by  the  way  of  Phil- 
adelphia, and  travelling  through  Pennsylvania,  tlie  Jerseys, 
New  York  and  back  again  to  Maryland,  Virginia,  Korth  Caro- 
lina and  this  Province,  he  had  preached  all  along  to  immense 
congregations.  With  ]V[r.  James  Habersham's  assistance  he 
had  founded  an  orphan  asylum  in  Georgia,  which  he  called 
Bethesda ;  and  the  first  collection  he  made  for  it  was  in  the 
Congregational  Church  in  Charlestown — the  Circular  (Jhurch. 
He  had  been  cordially  received  in  this  city  (the  place,  his 
biographer  says,'  "of  his  greatest  success  and  the  greatest  op- 
position'') by  Commissary  Garden  on  his  first  visit ;  but  the 
enthusiasm,  against  which  the  Bishep  of  London  had  to  warn 
him,  led  him  here  to  disregard  canonical  obligations,  which 
Commissary  Garden,  charged  with  the  oversight  of  the  clergy 
in  this  part  of  the  Bishop  of  London's  jurisdiction,  deemed  it 
his  duty  to  enforce.  Being  often  called  upon  to  preach  to 
large  crowds,  many  of  whom  neither  possessed  nor  knew  how 
to  use  the  Book  of  Common  Praj'er  in  public  worship,  White- 
field  departed  from  the  rule  of  his  Church,  making  extempore 
prayers  and  conducting  services  without  regard  to  the  Prayer 
Book.  This  Commissary  Garden  pi'ohibited,  and,  Whitefield 
persisting,  he  was  cited  to  appear  before  an  ecclesiastical 
court,  held  in  St.  Philip's  Church  on  the  15tli  July,  1740,  to 
answer  for  his  conduct.  He  did  not  himself  appear  in  re- 
sponse to  the  summons,  hue  Mr.  Andrew  Rutledge,  his  coun- 
sel, appeared  for  him  and  protested  against  the  autliority  of 
the  Court.  The  Court  overruled  the  plea  to  its  jurisdiction, 
and  Whitefield  appealed  to  the  Lords'  Commissioners  in  Eng- 
land, appointed  by  the  King,  for  hearing  appeals  in  spiritual 
causes  from  his  Majesty's  plantation  in  America.  The  appeal 
was  allowed,  but  Whitefield  did  not    prosecute   it;  and  after 


24 

the  expiration  of  tlie"tirae  limited,  lie  having  procured  no  pro- 
hibition against  the  Court's  proceeding,  it  went  on  with  the 
case,  and,  Whitefield  failing  to  answer  after  successive  ad- 
journments to  allow  him  an  opportunity  so  to  do,  judgment  of 
suspension  was  pronounced  against  him.  {Dalcho's  Chtirch 
Hist.,  128-lJi,6.)  Unfortunate  indeed  was  it  for  the  Church 
of  England  that  it  could  at  that  time  find  no  means  of  avail- 
ing itself  of  the  great  work  of  the  Weslejs  and  of  Whitefield  ; 
unhappy  indeed  that  it  allowed  a  great  and  needed  revival  to 
end  in  schism  instead  of  reformation.* 

The  year  1740  was  likewise  memorable  in  the  annals  of 
South  Carolina,  for  a  destructive  fire,  which  broke  out  in 
Charlestown  on  Tuesday  18th  November.  It  began  in  a  Sad- 
ler's shop  on  the  south  side  of  Broad  Street,  between  Church 
Street  and  East  Bay,  about  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The 
houses  being  generally  of  wood,  and  the  wind  from  the  north- 
west, the  fire  raged  with  uncontrollable  fury,  and  in  four 
hours  consumed  every  house  south  of  Broad  Street  besides 
some  on  the  north  side.  All  the  wharves,  storehouses,  and 
produce  were  destroyed.  The  loss  was  estimated  at  nearly 
one  million  and  a  half  dollars,  and  the  number  of  houses  de- 
stroyed at  three  hundred.  Universal  sympathy  was  exerted 
for  the  distresses  of  the  people.  A  solemn  fast  was  held  on 
Friday,  the  38th,  and  collections  were  made  at  the  Churches  for 
the  benefit  of  the  sufferers.  Subscriptions  were  likewise  opened 
in  town  and  country,  and  the  amount  collected,  as  well  as 
£1,500  appropriated  by  the  General  Assembly  and  £20,000 
voted  by  Parliament,  was  paid  into  the  hands  of  the  Church 
Wardens  of  St.  Philip's  Church  to  be  distributed  according  to 
their  discretion  among  the  sufferers.  The  minute  book  shows 
the  Vestry  and  Wardens  meeting  day  after  day,  receiving 
contributions  and  distributing  to  the  poor,  and  as  late  as  April, 
1741,  awarding  William  Osborne  £100  currency  towards  buy- 

*NoTE — The  following  is  represented  as  the  state  of  the  ditJ'erent  re- 
ligious bodies  in  Carolina  in  1740  : 

Episcopalians ^  (4^1 

Presbyterians,  French  and  other  Protestants. . .  |    To  the    1  4i  |^  to  10. 

Baptists j  whole  as  |  1    | 

Quakers -J  [   | J 


25 

ing   a    pilot    boat,  liis   having  been    burnt  in  the  time  of  the 
fire. 

In  1741  the  Rev.  Mr.  Orr,  assistant  Minister  of  St.  Philip's, 
was  appointed  to  the  mission  of  St.  Paul's  Parish  ;  and  the 
Pev.  William  McGilchrist,  who  had  been  sent  out  by  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  was  appointed 
in  his  place  at  St.  Philip's. 

We  find  a  curious  advertisement,  by  Mr.  Garden,  in  the 
South  Carolina  Gazette  of  March  11,  1743.  It  states  that  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  having  long  at 
heart  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  among  the  negroes  and 
Indian  races  in  his  Majesty's  colonies  in  America,  had  re- 
solved on  the  following  method  of  pursuing  that  end,  viz.  : 
by  purchasing  some  country-born  negroes,  causing  them  to 
be  instructed  to  read  the  Bible,  and  in  the  chief  precepts  of 
the  Ciiristian  religion,  and  thenceforth  employing  them  as 
school  masters  for  the  same  instructions  of  all  negroes  and 
Indian  children  as  might  be  born  in  the  colonies.  The  adver- 
tisement goes  on  to  state  that  in  pui-suanc(!  of  this  plan  the 
Society  had  purchased,  about  fifteen  months  before,  two  such 
negroes  for  this  service,  and  assigned  one  of  them  for  Charles- 
town,  who  would  be  sufficiently  qualified  in  a  few  months, 
and  to  whom  all  the  negro  and  Indian  children  of  the  parish 
might  be  sent  for  education  without  any  charge  to  the  mas- 
ters and  owners  ;  and  Mr.  Garden  concludes  with  an  appeal 
for  a  voluntary  contribution  of  £400  currency  to  build  a 
school  house  for  the  purpose,  which  he  consents  should  be  put 
up  in  a  corner  of  the  Glebe  land  near  the  parsonage. 

This  appeal  was  answered,  and  in  the  Gazette  of  April  2nd, 
1744,  Dr.  Garden  publishes  an  account  of  receipts  and  expen- 
ditures in  which  it  spears  that  he  had  received  contributions 
to  the  amount  of  £226.  Among  the  contributors  were  Hon. 
Charles  Pinckney,  Joseph  VVragg,  Robert  Pringle,  Jacob 
Motte,  Col.  Othniel  Beale,  Benjamin  Smith  and  Sarah  Trott. 

The  two  negro  boys  so  purchased  received  the  baptismal 
names  of  Harry  and  Andrew.  The  school  was  established, 
and  the  experiment  tried  in  the  hope  that  the  negroes  would 


26 

receive  instructions  from  teachers  of  their  own  race  with  more 
facility  and  wilhn<ruess  than  from  white  teachers.  The  scliool 
was  conthined  for  twenty-two  years,  first  under  the  super- 
vision of  Commissary  Garden,  as  Rector  of  St.  Philip's,  then 
of  his  successor,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clarke,  and  then  of  the  Rev. 
Robert  Smith,  afterwards  tlie  first  Bishop  of  South  Carolina. 

The  Rev.  Commissary  wrote  to  the  Society  in  1743  that 
the  negro  school  was  likely  to  succeed  and  consisted  of  thirty 
children.  In  17 14  upwards  of  60  children  were  instructed  in 
it  daily,  18  of  whom  read  in  the  Testament,  20  in  the  Psalter 
and  the  rest  in  the  spelling  books.  In  1746  there  were  55 
children  under  tuition,  and  15  adults  were  instructed  in  the 
evening.  In  1755  there  were  70  children  in  the  school,  and 
books  were  given  for  their  use.  In  1757  Mr.  Clarke  informed 
the  Society  that  the  negro  school  m  Charleston  was  flourish- 
ing and  full  of  children.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Smith,  during  his 
Rectorship,  examined  the  proficiency  of  the  children  twice  a 
week,  and  the  scliool  was  deemed  in  a  flourishing  condition. 
But  Andrew,  one  of  the  teachers,  died  ;  and  the  other,  Harry, 
"  turned  out  profligate" — -and,  as  the  Society  had  not  invested 
to  any  greater  extent  in  slaves  for  educational  purposes,  they 
had  no  other  black  or  colored  person  to  take  charge  of  the 
school,  and  so  it  was  discontinued. 

The  Gazette  of  April  30,  1744,  contains  this  interesting 
paragraph  : 

"On  Thursday  (i.  e.  26tli  April)  we  had  a  violent  storm  of  lightning 
thunder  and  rain  here.  The  lightning  has  done  considerable  damage 
to  St.  Philip's  Church,  the  steeple  and  organ,  and  killed  Mr.  Fiirniss, 
who  was  at  work  in  said  church  hanging  one  of  the  bells.  Mr.  Isaiah 
Burnet  (Furniss'  partner)  was  knocked  down  senseless  about  half  an 
hour,  but  recovered  soon  after.  One  Wilson  was  also  wounded  in  the 
kcee.  The  top  of  the  steeple  is  much  shattered,  but  where  the  light- 
ning entered  on  the  north  side  of  the  church  the  holes  are  not  above 
an  inch  in  diameter." 

The  Gazette  of  June  11th,  1744,  announces  another  storm, 
and  that  the  lightning  again  shattered  St.  Philip  s  Church 
steeple,  and  struck  the  organ  in  the  same  spot  as  when  Mr. 
Furniss  was  killed.     It  adds  that  the   storm    had   likewise  in- 


27 

jnred  the  Dissenters'  Meeting-  House,  and  that  several  houses 
were  struck  in  ditierent  parts  of  the  town,  jet  it  did  no  dam- 
age. The  injury  to  the  steeple  and  organ  cuuld  not  have  been 
very  2"reat,  however,  as  we  find  in  the  journals  no  allusion  to 
the  incident. 

The  health  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  McGilchrist  failing,  he  gave 
notice  to  the  Vestry  of  his  intention  to  return  to  England. 
Whereupon  the  Yestrj  applied  at  once  to  the  Lord  Bishop  of 
London  to  send  them  out  another  clergyman  lo  fill  his  place, 
and  in  their  letter  they  made  the  statement  that  "the  Parish 
is  large,  and  that  the  usual  auditory  in  it  is  six  or  seven  hun- 
dred people."     Mr.  McGilchrist  was  succeeded  on  January  25, 

1746,  by  the  Rev.  Robert  Betham,  A.  M.,  l)ut  he  lived  little 
more  than  a  year  after  his  arrival;    dying   on    the    31st  May, 

1747,  and  was  succeeded  July  6,  1747,  by  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Quincy  ;  and  he  havino-  resii^ned,  the  Rev.  Alexander  Keith, 
Rector  of  Prince  George,  Winyaw,  succeeded  him. 

The  congregation  of  St.  Philip's  outgrew  the  original 
Church,  and  had  removed  as  we  have  seen  to  the  site  of  the 
present  edifice  in  1723.  Li  less  than  thirty  years  it  had  again 
outgrown  its  second  edifice.  So  in  1751  an  Act  directed  "that 
all  that  part  of  Cliarlestown,  situate  and  lying  to  the  south- 
ward of  the  middle  of  Broad  Street  -  ^  *  *  be  known 
by  the  name  of  the  Parish  of  St.  Michael,"  and  that  a  church 
be  erected  "on  or  near  the  place  where  the  old  Church  of  St, 
Philip's,  Cniarlestown,  formerly  stood"  at  a  cost  to  the  i)iiblic 
of  not  more  than  £17,000  proclamation  money.  Tiie  corner- 
stone was  laid  February  17,  1752,  by  his  Excellency,  Governor 
Glen,  which  ceremony  was  followed  by  a  grand  dinner.  Tiie 
dinner  over,  his  Majesty's  health  was  druids,  followed  by  a 
discharge  of  the  cannon  at  Granville  Bastion  ;  then  the  health 
of  the  Royal  Family,  and  the  other  Royal  toasts.  The  Gazette 
adds  :  The  day  was  concluded  with  peculiar  pleasure  and  sat- 
isfaction. The  building  of  the  church  did  not  however  pro- 
gress much  faster  than  had  that  of  St.  Philip's.  The  tirst 
A^estry  of  St.  Michael's  was  not  organized  until  1759,  and  the 
first  service  was  not  performed    until    February,    1761.     The 


28 

church  wliich  still  stands  is  well  known  for  the  beauty  of  its 
steeple,  and  is  famed  for  its  chime  of  bells,  alike  remarkable 
for  their  sweetness  of  tone  and  romantic  history.  The  cost  of 
the  church  was  £53,535  8s.  9d.  currency  of  the  time,  about 
$32,775.87.  Of  this  £21,877  were  subscribed  for  pews,  and 
£31.056  15s.  9d.  were  granted  by  the  Assembly. 

In  the  division  of  the  parishes  the  care  of  the  poor  in  both 
were  left  to  St.  Philip's,  and  the  Church  Wardens  and  Vestry 
of  St.  Philip's  were  authorized  to  assess  and  collect  the  taxes 
for  the  support  of  the  poor  as  well  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Parish  of  St  Michael  as  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Parish  of  St.  Philip.  The  representation  in  the  General 
Assembly  was  equally  divided  between  the  two  Parishes  ; 
each  was  to  send  three  Members  to  the  Common  House 
of  Assembly.  The  Rev.  Alexander  Garden,  then  Rector 
of  St.  Philip's,  was  allowed  £40  proclamation  money  in 
lieu  of  the  perquisites  he  would  lose  by  the  division  of  the 
Parish.  It  was  provided  by  the  Act  that  it  should  be  lawful 
for  the  inhabitants  of  either  of  the  two  Parishes  to  bury  their 
dead  in  the  Church  yard  of  the  other  Parish.  The  division 
was  at  first  territorial,  and  thus  it  happened  that  in  many 
families  the  different  branches  residing  in  the  different  parts 
of  the  city  were  divided.  There  was  a  special  provision  in 
the  Act  that  no  person  should  own  a  pew  in  each  Church, 
unless  he  owned  a  house  in  each  Parish.  {Statutes,  Vol.  YII, 
79,)  Besides  their  distinctive  names  (St.  Philijy's  and  St. 
MichaeVs)  the  Churches  obtained  the  appellations  of  "the 
Old  Church,"  and  "the  New  Church,"  and  St.  Michael's  con- 
tinued to  be  familiarly  called  "the  New  Church"  until  some 
time  after  the  burning  of  "the  Old  Church''  (St.  Philip's)  in 
1835.  The  writer  of  this,  who  is  among  the  last  of  those 
baptized  in  "the  Old  Church,"  was  accustomed  to  hear  St. 
Michael's  called  in  his  family  until  the  late  war  between 
the  States  ''the  New   Church. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Garden  had  been  Rector  of  St.  Philip's 
thirty-four  years  when  his  increasing  infirmities  compelled 
him  to  seek  relief  from  laborious  duties ;  and  he  gave  notice 
to  the  Vestry  that  he  intended  to  resign   the  Rectorship  on  or 


29 

before  the  25th  ot*  March.  1754 — Mr.  Keitli,  the  assistant 
minister,  had  also  given  notice  of  his  intention  to  resign — the 
Vestry  thereupon  wrote  to  the  Bisliop  of  London,  requesting 
liim  to  send  out  two  clergymen  in  their  room.  In  their  letter 
to  the  Bishop  the  Vestry  gave  the  following  honorable  testi- 
mony to  Mr.  Garden's  character  : 

"  We  should  be  greatly  wanting  in  duty  should  we  omit  to  say  that 
Mr.  Garden,  during  his  residence  of  thirty  years  and  more  among  us, 
has  behaved  with  becoming  piety,  zeal  and  candor  in  his  sacred  minis- 
try and  function,  which  he  hath  exercised  with  unwearied  labour  and 
diligence,  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  edification  of  souls  ;  and  we  can 
with  truth  aver  he  hath  been  a  good  Shepherd  of  Christ's  flock." 

On  Sunday,  March  31st,  1754,  Mr.  Garden  preached  his 
farewell  sermon  to  a  crowded  audience  at  St.  Philip's  Church 
from  Roman  x,  1.  Dr.  Dalcho  gives  the  concluding  passages 
of  this  most  touching  and  eloquent  address. 

How  different  is  this  character  whicl  Commissary  Garden 
gives  of  the  people  from  that  written  b  his  predecessor,  Com- 
missary Johnson,  to  the  Bishop  of  Londv    i  : 

You  know  (my  Brethren)  I  abhor  flattery;  it  is  sinful  a  all  times 
and  would  be  unpardonable  from  this  sacred  place;  I  am  under  no 
temptation  to  it;  and  therefore  shall  speak  forth  only  the  words  of 
truth  and  soberness  concerning  the  inhabitants  of  Charles  Town  when 
I  bear  this  testimony  to  them,  viz:  that  however  as  in  all  other  com- 
munities there  are  manj'  bad  individuals  amongst  them,  too  many 
despisers  of  Religion  and  Virtue,  yet,  generally  speaking,  the  most 
substantial  and  knowing  part  are  a  sober,  charitable  and  religiously 
disposed  people.  Nor  out  of  this  character  do  I  exclude  Dissenters  of 
any  denomination  with  whom  I  have  always  lived  in  all  peace  and 
friendship,  and  who  have  always  treated  me  with  civility  and  decent 
regard.  Would  God  that  there  was  no  Schism,  no  Dissention  amongst 
us;  but  that  all  were  of  one  Mind  and  one  Mouth;  all  united  in  the 
same  Communion  of  the  Church  of  England,-  But  if  this  may  not  be, 
to  their  own  Master,  they  who  dissent,  must  st  md  or  fall;  let  us  live  in 
peace,  friendship  and  charity  towards  them.  My  hope  and  earnest 
desire  of  my  heart  andp?-a^er  to  God  for  them  also  is,  that  they  may 
be  saved.  And  moreover  I  take  this  opportunity  tiius  publicly  to 
declare  that  there  is  neither  Man,  Woman  nor  Child  in  the  whole 
Province  of  Carolina  with  whom  I  am  not  in  perfect  Charity  and  to 
whom  I  do  not  heartily  and  sincerely  wish  all  happiness,  both  temporal 
and  eternal." 


30 
We  can  (juote  i'!  addition  only  this  last  passage : 

"Once  more,  (ray  beloved  Brethren)  farewell  .'  May  the  very  God 
of  Peace  sanctify  you  wholly,  and  preserve  your  whole  spirits  and  souls 
and  bodies  blameless  unto  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

"  May  all  the  blessings  of  Heaven  descend  upon  all  the  inhabitants 
of  this  Province  in  general ;  those  of  Charles  Town  in  particular  ;  but 
more  especially  on  you,  the  beloved  people  of  my  late  charge — may  the 
ever  blessed  and  glorious  Trinity  bless  yon  in  the  city,  and  in  the  Field; 
in  the  fruit  of  your  Body,  the  fruit  of  your  Cattle,  and  the  iruit  of  your 
Ground.  lUess  you  in  your  Basket,  and  in  your  Store,  and  in  all  that 
you  set  your  hand  unto.  Bless  you  with  all  the  temporal  blessings  of 
Health,  of  Peace  and  Prosperity;  but  above  all,  and  as  the  Source  of  all, 
bless  yoii  with  truly  faithful  and  obedient  Hearts  and  Anally  conduct 
you  safe  to  the  Blessed  Region  of  Glory  and  Immortality." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Garden  was  beloved,  says  Dr.  Dalcho,  by 
the  clergy  as  a  father,  and  greatly  esteemed  by  the  congrega- 
tion for  whose  spiritual  welfare  he  had  labored  so  many  years. 
The  Vestry,  Wardens  and  Parishioners  joined  in  an  address, 
expressing  their  reverence  and  love,  and  presented  to  him  a 
piece  of  plate  with  an  engraving  upon  it  of  the  west  front  of 
the  Church  and  an  appropriate  inscription.  {See  the  Address 
in  Dalclid's  OJturch  Hist.,  with  names  thereto,  p.  171-174.) 

In  consequence  of  the  application  of  the  Vestry  to  the 
Bishop  of  London,  the  Rev.  Richard  Clarke,  A.  M.,  and  the 
Rev.  John  Andrews,  L.  L.  B.,  arrived  from  England  in  1753, 
and  were  duly  chosen  Rector  and  Assistant  Minister.  Mr. 
Andrews  remained  but  a  short  time.  He  resigned  November 
9,  1756,  and  returned  to  England.  Mr.  Clarke,  who  was  a  very 
learned  and  able  theologian,  remained  until  1759.  when  he  too 
returned  to  England.  Mr.  Andrews  had  been  succeeded 
as  Assistant  Minister  by  the  Rev.  Robert  Smith,  A.  M., 
Fellow  of  Caius  and  Gonville  College,  Cambridge,  who 
now,  upon  the  departure  of  Mr.  Clarke,  was  chosen  Rector, 
in  which  position  he  was  to  remain  for  forty-two  years.  He 
had  for  his  first  Assistant  Minister  the  Rev.  Win- 
wood  Sergeant,  who  occupied  the  position  but  a  very 
short  time,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Robert  Cooper, 
(late  Rector  of  Prince  William's  Parish,)  December  10,  1759, 
who  in  two  years  was  chosen  the  first  Rector  of  St.  Michael's. 


31 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Dacre  Wilton  arrived  from  England  at  the 
end  of  1701,  and  was  elected  assistant  January  9,  1762.  He 
died  in  1767,  and  was  buried  in  tlie  church  yard.  Mr.  Wil- 
ton was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  James  Crallan,  October  14, 
1767,  who  resigned  April  25,  1768. 

The  health  of  Mr.  Smith  having  suffered  from  the  climate, 
he  was  advised  by  his  physicians  to  make  a  voyage  to  Eng- 
land— the  Rev.  Mr.  Cooper  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hart,  of  St. 
Michael's,  consenting  to  supply  the  Church  during  his  ab- 
sence. Mr.  Smith  remained  in  England  near  two  years,  and 
while  there  engaged  the  Rev.  Robert  Purcell,  A.  M.,  as  As- 
sistant Minister  of  St.  Philip's.  This  clergyman  had  been  cu- 
rate to  the  Rector  of  Shipton-Mallet  for  eight  years,  and  was 
highly  recommended  for  his  talents  and  piety.  He  arrived 
in  Charlestown  June  18,  1769,  and  on  the  12th  July  was 
elected  assistant  to  the  Rector  of  St.  Philip's,  a  position  which 
he  filled  until  1775,  when  he  returned  to  England  to  make 
some  arrangements  for  the  Church  at  Shipton-Mallet,  where 
he  had  left  a  substitute ;  but  the  war  breaking  out  he  re- 
mained in  England  and  received  a  pension  of  £100  jjer  annum 
as  a  Loyalist. 

While  in  the  other  colonies  most  of  the  clergymen  of  the 
English  Church,  and  most  of  the  Churchmen,  were  Tories,  the 
very  reverse  was  the  case  in  South  Carolina.  The  leaders  of 
the  Revolution  in  this  Province  were  almost  all  from  old  St, 
Philip's,  and  with  them  the  Rev.  Robert  Smith,  the  Rector, 
was  in  liearty  accord.  Of  the  party  which  Christopher  Gads- 
den assembled  under  the  Liberty  Tree,  in  1766,  ten  of  the 
twenty-six  were  his  fellow  worshippers  in  the  old  Church,  to 
ioit~^\n.  Johnson,  Joseph  Yerree,  Nathaniel  Lobby,  John 
Hall,  Tunis  Tebout,  William  Trusler,  Robert  Howard,  Alex- 
ander Alexander,  Edward  and  Daniel  Cannon.  That  we  are 
correct  in  saying  that  the  leaders  of  the  Revolution  were  most 
from  St.  Philip's  will  be  recognized  when  we  recall  well 
known  names  of  those  who  led  the  people  and  worshipped  in 
this  Church,  to  wit — Christopher  Gadsden,  Henry  Laurens 
and  his  son  John,  Rawlins  Lowndes,   Col.    Charles  Pinckney, 


32 

Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney,  Thomas  Pinckney,  the  Rut- 
ledges  (Edward  and  Hugh — John  Rutledge  had  removed  to 
St.  Michael's,)  Henry  Middleton  and  his  son  Arthur,  William 
Johnson  and  Daniel  Cannon.  Of  the  sixty  principal  citizens 
of  South  Carolina,  upon  the  fall  of  (Jharleston  arrested  and 
sent  by  the  British  in  exile  to  St.  Augustine,  in  violation  of 
their  paroles,  more  than  a  third  were  from  St.  Philip's,  viz — 
Christopher  Gadsden,  Thomas  Ferguson,  Peter  Timothy,  John 
Edwards,  Edward  Rutledge,  Hugh  Rutledge,  Isaac  Holmes, 
William  Hasell  Gibbes,  Alexander  Moultrie,  John  Earnest 
Poyas,  Doctor  Peter  Fayssoux,  Edward  McCrady,  John 
Neufville,  William  Johnson,  Thomas  Grimball,  Anthony 
Toomer,  Robert  Cochran,  Thomas  Hall,  Arthur  Middleton, 
Samuel  Prioleau,  Jr.,  Edward  Weyman,  Henry  Crouch,  and 
John  Splatt  Crips.  And  so  it  was  that,  when  in  the  outset  of 
the  Revolution  the  Provincial  Congress  set  apart  the  ITth 
February,  1778,  as  a  day  of  fasting,  liumiliation  and  prayer, 
the  Commons  House  of  Assembly,  with  the  silver  Mace  (the 
same  which  still  lies  upon  the  Speaker's  desk  during  a  session 
of  our  present  House  of  Representatives)  borne  before  them, 
went  in  procession  to  St.  Philip's  Church,  where  a  pious  and 
excellent  sermon  was  preached  before  them  by  the  Rector,  the 
Rev.  Robert  Smitli,  for  which  he  received  the  thanks  of  the 
body.  Mr.  Smith  continued  to  officiate  during  the  Revolu- 
tion until  Charleston  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British,  when 
he  was  banished  to  Philadelphia  and  his  property  confiscated. 
The  Rev.  Charles  Frederick  Moreau  took  charge  of  the 
Church  during  the  British  occupancy  of  the  city. 

The  Rev.  Robert  Smith,  upon  his  return  from  exile  after 
the  Revolution,  in  May,  1783,  was  joyfully  welcomed  by 
the  inhabitants  of  Charlestown  generally.  St.  Philip's  in 
particular  gladly  hailed  the  arrival  of  their  honored  and  be- 
loved minister.  The  deranged  state  of  the  finances  of  the 
Church  at  this  period,  as  well  as  of  his  own  estate  which 
had  been  sequestered  by  tlie  British,  made  it  necessary  for 
him  to  add  to  the  great  and  multiplied  labors  of  his  pastoral 
function  the  arduous  and  anxious  responsibility  of  tuition. 
He  organized  an  academy,  for  which  he  spared  neither  trouble 


33 

iK>r  expense  in  ubtaininii;  the  best  qualified  classical  teachers, 
and  which  afterward,  upon  the  passage  of  an  Act  estahlishincr 
the  Charleston  College  in  1785,  became  incorporated  with 
that  Institution,  of  which  he  was  appointed  the  principal.  It 
was  also,  says  Dalcho,  through  his  unwearied  exertions  that 
the  Vestries  of  St.  Philip's  and  St.  Michael's  were  led  to  asso- 
ciate in  a  convention  for  the  purpose  of  sending  delegates  to  a 
General  Convention  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  Diocesan  Convention, 
or  Council  as  it  is  now  called,  in  South  Carolina.  He  attended 
the  General  Convention  held  in  1786  at  Wilmington,  Dela- 
ware. In  1789  Mr.  Smith  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity  from  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  In  1795  he 
was  elected  the  first  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  South  Carolina,  and  was  consecrated  at  Christ 
Church,  Philadelphia,  on  the  13th  September  of  that  year. 
Bishop  Smith  established  the  precedent  of  remaining  pastor, 
notwithstanding  his  elevation  to  the  episcopate,  which  was 
followed  by  his  three  successors  in  office.  In  1786  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Frost  arrived  from  England,  whence  he  had  come  at 
the  invitation  of  Dr.  Smith  as  his  assistant,  and  remained  in 
that  station  until  the  death  of  Bishop  Smith  in  1801,  when  he 
became  Rector,  but  unhappily  survived  only  until  1804. 

The  Revolution  had  left  the  Chui'ch  in  an  anomalous  con- 
dition. Under  the  law  of  England  the  "parson"  or  Rector 
was  a  corporation  sole,  in  whom  the  property  of  the  Church 
was  vested.  But  the  Church  had  been  disestablished  by  the 
Constitution  of  1778  ;  and  the  title  to  the  property  formerly 
vested  in  the  parson  was  a  matter  of  legal  question.  [It  does 
not  appear  that  any  division  of  the  Glebe  lands  given  by  Mrs. 
Affra  Coming  had  been  made  between  St.  Philip's  and  St. 
Michael's  Churches  upon  the  ci-eation  of  St.  Michael's  Parish, 
but  the  interest  of  St.  Michael's  in  them  was  recognized.]  To 
meet  this  condition  of  affairs  in  1785  an  Act  was  passed  in- 
corporating the  Yestries  and  Church  Wardens  of  the  two 
Parishes  into  one  corporate  body,  with  power  to  hold  ana  dis- 
pose of  the  lands  and  other  property  then   vested    in  the  said 


34 

Clinrclies  or  any  other  they  might  acquire.  {Statntes  8,  Vol, 
168.)  This  arrangement  did  not.  however,  work  well,  and  so 
in  179r  the  Vestries  and  Wardens  of  tiie  two  Churches  ob- 
tained from  the  Legislature  another  Act  making  the  two 
Churches  separate  and  distinct  bodies  politic  and  corporate 
[Hid.  168.)  Befoi'e  the  passage  of  this  Act  an  agreement  had 
been  entered  into  by  the  two  Churches  for  a  division  of  the 
Glebe  lands.  This  agreement  was  confirmed  bv  the  Act  sep- 
arating the  Churches.  It  was  not,  however,  until  the  j-ear 
1797  that  a  formal  deed  of  partition  was  executed  by  the  two 
bodies.  In  this  division  St.  Philip's  Church  obtained  the 
i>-reater  quantity  of  land,  most  of  which,  however,  was  at  the 
time  vacant  and  unimproved  ;  while  St.  Michael's  obtained 
most  of  the  improved  property  with  a  more  regular  income. 

By  the  State  Constitution  of  1790  Charleston,  including 
the  two  Parishes  of  St.  Philip's  and  St.  Michael's^  was  made 
one  election  precinct,  with  fifteen  members  of  the  House  of 
Representatives — and  two  Senator's,  one  for  each  of  the  Par- 
ishes. This  was  the  origin  of  the  allowance  of  two  Senators 
to  the  City  of  Charleston,  which  continued  until  the  Constitu- 
tion of  1895.  The  Senators  and  Representatives  were  styled 
from  the  Parishes  of  St.  Philip'' s  and  St.  MichaeVs,  woifrom 
Charleston. 

When  Mr.  Frost  became  Rect(>r  in  1801,  the  Rev.  Peter 
Manigault  Parker,  the  first  native  born  South  Carolinian  to 
enter  the  ministry  of  the  Church,  became  Assistant  Minister, 
but  lived  only  about  a  year  after.  Upon  the  death  of  Mr. 
Frost  the  Rev.  George  Pogson,  Rector  of  St.  James  Goose 
Creek,  officiated  during  that  summer;  and  then  the  Rev. 
Edward  Jenkins,  Rector  of  St.  Michael's,  was  called,  and  ac- 
cepted the  charge  of  St.  Philip's  December  2,  1804,  and  the 
Rev.  William  Percy  was  elected  a  temporary  or  third  Minister 
of  St.  Philip's  and  St.  Michael's  conjointly.  In  the  Spring  of 
1807  Dr.  Jenkins  went  to  England,  leaving  the  Rev.  James 
Dewar  Simons  to  officiate  during  his  absence.  Dr.  Jenkins 
resigned  the  next  year,  and  Mr.  Simons  was  elected  Rector 
August  7,  1809.  The  Rev.  Christopher  Edwards  Gadsdei., 
Minister  of  St.  John's  Berkelev.  was  elected  assistant  Decern 


35 

ber  21,  1809,  when  Dr.  Percy  ceased  to  officiate  at  8t.  Phil, 
ip's.  The  Rev..  Mr.  Simons  died  May  27,  1814,  and  Mr. 
Gadsden  became  Rector.  The  Rev.  Thomas  D.  Frost,  son  of 
the  Rector,  became  Assistant  Minister  March  12,  1815,  and 
died  May  16, 1819.  The  Rev.  Alston  Gibbs  officiated  the 
remainder  of  the  year. 

St.  Philip's  Church  had  escaped  the  great  lires  which  had 
devastated  the  city  in  1740,  1778,  1796,  and  in  1810.  In  that 
of  1796  the  French  Protestant  Churcli,  but  a  short  distance 
from  it,  was  burned,  and  the  steeple  of  St.  Philip's  was  on 
fire,  but  was  saved  by  the  gallant  conduct  of  a  negro  man  who 
climbed  to  the  burning  shingles  and  tore  them  off,  for  which 
service  he  obtained  his  freedom.  It  Had  only  escaped  these 
great  conflagrations  to  be  destroyed  at  last  in  one  of  much 
smaller  extent,  on  Sunday  morning,  February  14,  1835. 
We  take  the  following  account  of  its  destruction  from  The 
Courier,  of  February  16,  1835  : 

*  *  *  "The  most  striking  feature  of  this  calamity  Is  the  destruc- 
tion of  St.  Philip's  Church,  commonly  known  as  the  Old  Church.  The 
venerable  structure,  which  has  for  more  than  a  century  (having  been 
built  in  1723)  towered  among  us  in  all  the  solemnity  and  noble  pro- 
portions of  antique  architecture,  constituting  a  hallowed  link  between 
the  past  and  the  present,  with  its  monumental  memorials  of  the  be- 
loved and  honored  dead,  and  its  splendid  new  organ  (which  cost 
§4,500,)  is  now  a  smoking  ruin.  Although  widely  separated  from  the 
burning  houses  by  the  burial  ground,  the  upper  part  of  the  steeple,  the 
only  portion  of  it  externally  composed  of  wood,  took  fire  from  the 
sparks  which  fell  upon  it  in  great  quantities.  It  is  much  to  be  re- 
gretted that  preventive  measures  had  not  been  taken  in  season  to  save 
the  noble  and  consecrated  edifice.  The  flames  slowly  descending 
wreathed  the  steeple,  constituting  a  magnificent  spectacle  and  form- 
ing literally  a  pillar  of  fire,  and  finally  enwrapped  the  whole  body  of 
the  church  in  its  enlarged  volume.  The  burning  of  the  body  of  the 
Church  was  the  closing  scene  of  the  catastrophe.  In  1796  it  was  pre- 
served by  a  negro  man  who  ascended  it  and  was  rewarded  with  his 
freedom  for  his  perilous  exertions,  and  again  in  1810  it  narrowly  es- 
caped the  destructive  fire  of  that  year,  which  commenced  in  the 
house  adjoining  the  Church  yard  on  the  north. 

"We  have  been  informed  that  the  only  monument  of  the  interior  of 
the  Church  which  was  not  totally  destroyed  is  one  that  with  an  acci- 
dental appropriateness  bears  the  figure  of  grief.'' 


3G 

The  Rev.  John  Johnson.  D.  D.,  the  present  Rector  of  St. 
Philip's  Clinrch,  in  his  sermon  preached  on  Sunday,  Auojust, 
9,  1874,  in  commemoration  of  the  one  hundred  and  iiftietli 
year  of  tlie  occupation  of  the  present  site  of  the  Church  for 
divine  service,  speaking;  of  the  Rectorship  of  the  "dear  old 
Dr.  Gadsden,"  says  : 

"It  is  his  ministry  also  whicli  really  bridges  over  a  great  uhasm  in 
the  history  of  the  Parish.  I  mean  the  destruction  of  the  Old  Church 
by  fire,  and  the  worshipping  by  the  congregation  in  a  temporary  frame 
building  erected  in  the  middle  of  the  western  chureli  yard.  Dr.  Gads- 
den had  been  your  Rector  for  twenty-one  years,  when  on  that  fatal 
Sunday  morning  in  February,  of  the  year  1885,  the  Hakes  of  the  tire 
from  the  north  of  us  caught  the  dry  wood  work  of  our  steeple,  and 
the  flames  descending  wrapt  the  Church  of  so  many  consecrated  affec- 
tions, until  despite  all  efforts  'our  holy  and  once  beautiful  house  where 
our  fathers  praised  God,  was  burned  np  with  fire,  and  all  our  pleasant 
things  laid  waste,' 

"It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  never  before  or  since  in  the  history 
of  this  city  has  the  loss  of  a  public  building  been  attended  with  more 
poignant  sorrow  and  mourning  thau  that  of  old  St.  Philip's  Church. 
To  show  how  general  was  the  feeling  in  our  community,  our  congrega- 
tion had  places  of  worship  otiered  them  by  many  of  their  fellow  Chris- 
tians of  all  denominations.  And  one  occurrence  during  the  fire  was 
made  the  subject  of  some  lines  by,  it  is  thought,  Mr.  Charles  Fraser, 
ouce  an  honored  citizen,  but  not  of  our  flock. 

"I  can  remember  only  the  spectacle  of  the  burning  at  a  distance, 
and  the  sounds  of  grief  that  were  close  by  me  as  I  watched  the  flames, 
but  knew  not  how  to  estimate  in  my  childhood  such  a  loss. 

"Men  talked  of  speedily  replacing  it,  but  it  could  never  be  done  ;  in 
its  most  sacred  associations  and  its  time  hallowed  adornments  we 
knew  there  could  be  but  one  'Old  St.  Philip's.'  Such  losses  laugh  to 
scorn  insurance  money.  Such  ruins  when  they  fall  shake  the  very 
ground  of  our  lives,  and  strew  with  ashes  our  bruised  and  desolated 
hearts,  How  while  the  ruins  were  still  smoking  on  that  Sunday  morn- 
ing the  afflicted  flock  were  gathered  by  their  Shepherd,  as  well  as  they 
could  be,  in  the  old  Sunday  School  building  to  the  east  of  us,  and  how 
to  a  weaping  congregation  he  preached  Christ's  own  message  of  com- 
fort and  consolation,  "  &c. 

It  was  really  with  remarkable  energy  and  liberality  that 
the  present  church  was  built.  For  those  times  were,  like 
the  present,  in  a  most  depressed  condition.  In  answer  to 
objections  to  public  aid  in  the  rebuilding  the  church,  because 


37 

it  was  said  the  congregation  was  a  rich  corporation,  the 
Vestry  state,  in  the  Southern  Patriot,  of  the  19th  February, 
1835,  that  in  the  last  few  years  some  of  the  building  leases 
of  the  Glebe  lands  having  expired  the  Ycstry  were  obliged  to 
pay  for  the  improvements  upon  them,  when,  from  the  depre- 
ciation of  property,  the  land  and  buildings  could  scarcely  be 
sold  (in  some  cases)  for  the  sums  which  they  had  to  pay  for 
the  buildings  alone.  This,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  just 
before  the  great  financial  panic  of  1S37.  Xotwithstanding 
this,  Dr.  Johnson  points  out  that  on  the  12th  of  November 
of  that  year  the  corner-stone  of  the  new  building  was  laid 
with  appropriate  ceremonies;  the  lirst  service  under  its  roof 
was  held  on  a  fast  day,  the  3rd  May,  1838;  and  the  church 
was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Bowen  on  the  Oth  day  of  j^ovem- 
ber,  1838. 

The  author  is  indebted  to  the  Rev,  Dr.  Johnson  for  the 
following  interesting  account  of  the  rebuilding  of  the  church  : 

"Soon  after  the  destruction  of  the  second  church  by  tire 
on  the  14th  February,  1835,  the  present  edifice  was  planned 
and  its  corner-stone  was  laid  12th  November,  1835.  The 
architect  was  Mr.  J.  Hyde.  Built  of  brick  on  the  same 
foundations,  except  with  (extension  of  twenty-two  or  twenty- 
three  feet  to  the  eastward,  or  chancel  end,  the  ground  plan  of 
the  new  church  was  nearly  the  same  as  that  of  the  old  one. 
The  differences  were  as  follows  :  The  floor  was  raised  above 
ground  about  three  feet;  steps  of  stone  being  used  to  ascend 
to  the  three  porches  at  the  west  end  of  the  building,  and  to 
the  two  door-ways  central  on  the  side  walls;  a  chancel, 
recessed  about  fifteen  feet,  and  lighted  with  a  wide  and  lofty 
window,  proved  an  important  addition  to  the  interior;  the 
two  side-aisles  were  put  immediately  next  to  the  side  walls; 
one  hundred  and  two  pews  on  the  floor  provided  Ave  hundred 
and  fltty  sittings,  while  thirty-six  in  the  galleries,  reached  by 
stairs  in  the  vestibule,  provided  two  hundred  and  fifty  more, 
making  accommodations,  without  crowding,   for  upwards  of 


38 

eight  hundred  persons.  But,  with  seats  arranged  along  the 
aisles  and  in  the  vestibule,  as  has  been  done  for  special  occa- 
sions, the  capacity  of  the  church  may  be  assumed  as  about 
twelve  hundred  sittings.  So,  in  regard  to  its  external 
sittings,  the  new  differs  not  greatly  from  the  old  building. 
The  three  characteristic  porches,  north,  south  and  west,  were 
repeated,  each  with  four  columns  supporting  entablature  and 
pediment.  As  before,  a  stately  square  tower,  rising  above 
these  porches  into  a  steeple  of  octagonal  section,  dominates 
the  building.  But,  continued  upwards,  as  the  former  was 
not,  into  a  spire  two  hundred  feet  high,  after  the  design  of 
Edward  B.  White,  architect,  the  steeple  is  snrmounted  by  a 
plain  gilded  cross. 

"So  great  was  the  love  of  the  congregation  for  their  old 
church- building,  that  they  entertained  for  a  while  no  other 
thought  than  to  reproduce,  as  far  as  possible,  the  edifice  they 
had  lost.  But  within  a  year,  other  counsels  prevailed;  and 
the  new  plans,  as  has  been  seen,  departed  in  some  important 
particulars  from  the  old.  Both  structures  retained  the  inte- 
rior features  of  the  Georgian  period  of  London  church  archi- 
tecture, viz.,  galleries  for  congregation  and  choir,  the  latter 
over  the  entrance  to  the  middle  aisle,  and  a  high  pulpit  adapted 
to  the  galleries. 

"The  same  orders  of  architecture  also  were  retained  within 
and  without,  but  with  modifications  that  were  improvements. 
Thus,  the  massive,  square  piers  that  supported  the  old  church, 
that  gave  it  some  grandeur,  and,  faced  with  fluted  pilasters 
bearing  fine  sculptured  memorial  tablets,  some  grace  also, 
vvere  not  repeated  because  they  darkened  the  interior,  and 
interfered  seriously  with  vision  and  hearing.  The  Doric 
order  of  the  later  (Roman)  period  gave  rule,  measure,  and 
proportion  to  the  exterior  of  the  new  church,  so  that  the 
columns,  pilasters  and  entablatures  without  the  building 
represent  very  correctly,  in  all  but  the  ornaments*  of  capital 

*  These  appear  in  the  columns,  and  on  tlie  frieze,  of  the  Market 
Hall,  Charleston. 


39 

and  frieze,  the  order  they  iUustrate.  The  interior  ot  the 
sacred  edifice  is  finished  in  th.e  Corinthian  order  of  architec- 
ture, and  is  the  only  specimen  in  the  city  of  tliat  order,  with 
all  the  rich  ornaments  of  the  later,  or  Roman,  period. f 
These  are  executed,  for  the  most  part,  in  stucco,  but  the  capi- 
tals of  the  columns  are  in  carved  wood.  The  roof  and  gal- 
leries are  supported  by  eight  fluted  columns,  four  on  each 
side,  rising  from  pedestals  of  the  same  level  as  the  rail  of  the 
pews  to  the  height  of  twenty  feet  above  the  floor.  There, 
these  columns,  flnished  with  their  appropriate  capitals,  meet 
the  line  of  the  entablature,  not  extended  in  the  usual  way 
from  column  to  column,  but  circumscribed  above  each  colunm, 
so  as  to  produce,  with  the  overhanging  cornice,  the  effect  of 
a  higher  and  larger  capital,  which,  of  course,  it  is  not.  This 
departure  from  conventional  design  is  something  almost  in 
the  way  of  a  *  ''jeu  d  '  esprit. ' '  But  it  has  its  reason  in  the 
precedent  of  one  of  the  finest  London  churches,  designed 
by  James  Gibbs,  architect,  1721,  and  the  express  wish  of  the 
Charleston  congregation  to  secure,  thereby,  tlie  light  and  airy 
effect  of  the  English  prototype. 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  congregation  of  St.  Philip's,  27th 
June,  1830,  it  was  Resolved,  "That  the  heavy  pillars  of  the 
interior  of  the  church  be  dispensed  with,  and  that  in  lieu 
thereof,  (Corinthian  columns  (as  far  as  ]H-acticable)  after  the 
style  of  St.  Martin's  in  the  Fields,  London,  be  adopted."' 
And  again.  Resolved,  "That  the  pillars  of  the  plans  presented 
be  lowered,  so  as  to  reduce  the  arches."  These  arches  were 
tiie  motive  of  tlie  whole  scheme.  Springing  longitudinally 
from  the  square  of  cornice  above  each  column,  at  an  altitude 
of  about  twenty- Ave  feet,  and  rising  at  their  crown  to  a  level 
of  thirty-six  feet  above  the  floor,  these  flne  arches  on  each 
side  support  the  roof,  and  contribute  no  little  to  the  beauty  of 
the  interior,  lifting  the  eye  above  the  columns  and  galleries 
to    the    topmost    height  of    the    main    arched    ceiling  of  the 

t  The  earliest  (Grecian)  Corinthian  column  is  seen  in  the  colonnade 
of  the  Charleston  Hotel. 


40 

church,  forty-two  or  three  feet  above  the  floor.  The  crown 
of  each  arch  is  ornamented  with  a  cherub's  head  and  wings 
in  stucco,  while,  in  the  space  of  the  spandrels,  between  the 
shoulders  of  the  arches,  the  same  material  is  used  for  the 
display  of  the  acanthus  ornamentation.  The  unbroken 
entablature  is  seen  in  the  chancel  where  it  passes  from  one 
pilaster  to  another,  but  is  again  broken  by  the  head  of  the 
high,  stained-glass  window.  Above  the  cornice  of  the  chan- 
cel, the  coved  ceiling  is  ribbed  and  paneled  with  rosettes 
in  stucco.  On  either  side  of  the  chancel,  the  walls  are 
enriched  by  tablets,  inscribed  with  '"the  Creed,  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  and  the  Ten  Commandments."  The  Holy  Table, 
saved  from  the  old  church  while  it  was  burning  down,  still 
continues  to  be  used  in  the  services,  an  emblem  of  union  and 
communion  between  the  generations  of  St.  Philip's,  past, 
present  and  future.  A  vestry- room  has  been  bnilt  in  recent 
years  in  the  northeastern  angle  of  the  church. 

Dimensions  of  the  Exterior. 

Extreme  length  of  building,  not  iacluding  the  western  poroh .  .120  feet 
Extreme  width  of  building,  not  including  the  south  and  north 

porches 62  " 

Projection  of  porches 12  '' 

Height  of  walls  on  sides 35  " 

Height  of  ridge  of  roof 45  " 

Height  of  steeple 200  " 

Dimensions  of  the  Interior. 

Extreme  length  of  church 114  feet 

Depth  of  chancel 9  " 

Width  of  chancel 24  " 

Extreme  width  of  church 56  " 

Height  of  galleries  (upper  rail) 14  " 

Extreme  height  of  ceiling 42  " 

Width  of  vestibule 20  " 

"■'The  cost  of  the  new  church,  as  reported  to  the  congrega- 
tion,   15th   July,    1839,    was  $84,206.01.      Tlie  subsequent 


41 

expense  of  erecting  a  steeple  must  liave  raised  the  total  cost 
to  nearly  $100,000. "•• 

At  the  time  of  the  burning  of  the  Old  Church  the  ardent, 
gifted  and  lamented  Daniel  Cohia  was  Assistant  Minister. 
His  ministry  was  brief;  of  but  three  years;  it  was  almost 
entirely  spent  in  the  temporary  building  called  the  Tabernacle. 
His  elofjuent  voice  was  not  heard  in  the  present  edilice — he 
died  in  1837,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Abraham 
Kaufman,  whose  ministry  was  e(|ually  brief,  whom  all  had 
begun  to  admire,  and  sorrowed  thus  to  lose.  Tal)lets  to  their 
memories  lie  at  the  foot  of  the  chancel  in  the  present  church. 
The  Rev.  John  Barnwell  Campbell  succeeded  Mr.  Kaufman 
as  Assistant  Minister  in  1740,  serving  for  twelve  years  in 
that  station. 

Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Calhoun  the  City  Council  of 
Charleston  unanimously  passed  a  resolution  that,  in  their 
opinion,  the  City  of  Charleston,  the  chief  metropolis  of  the 
State,  might  with  propriety  ask  for  herself  the  distinction  of 
l»eing  selected  as  the  final  resting  place  of  that  illustrious 
man,  and  that  the  Mayor,  in  l)ehalf  of  the  Council  and  the 
citizens  of  Charleston,  should  communicate  with  the  family 
of  the  deceased  and  earnestly  entreat  that  the  remains  of  him 
they  loved  so  well  should  l)e  permitted  to  repose  among 
them.  This  recjuest  was  acceded  to;  the  body  was  l)rought 
to  the  city  and  received  with  the  grandest,  the  most  imposing 
and  solemn  ceremonies,  St.  Philip's  Church  yard  was  at 
once  designated  as  the  temporary  resting  place.  There 
were  two  reasons  for  this  selection.  First,  the  close  historic 
connection  of  the  church  with  the  commonwealth  of  which 
Calhoun  was  the  greatest  product;  and,  secondly,  there  was 

*  On  the  inside  walls  of  the  present  church  are  monnmental  tablets 
to  Bishop  Christopher  E.  Gadsden,  the  Rev.  William  Dehon,  William 
Mason  Smith,  and  Mrs.  Mary  A.nn  Elizabeth  Cogdell — and  in  the 
vestibule  is  one  to  Maj.  Gen.  William  Moultrie,  erected  by  the  Society 
of  the  Cincinnati,  and  also  one  "In  memory  of  those  Soldiers  of  the 
Confederate  States  connected  with  St.  Philip's  Church,  who  died  for 
their  Country." 


42 

a  peculiar  fitness  in  the  circumstance  that  Bishop  Gadsden, 
the  Kector  of  St.  Pliilip's,  had  been  a  class-mate  of  the  great 
man  at  Yale  College.  And  so  we  read  in  the  account  of  that 
grand  funeral  pageant  » 

"The  next  day,  the  26th  April,  i.  e.  the  day  after  the  reception  of 
the  body  and  its  lying  in  state  in  the  City  Haii,  was  appointed  for  the 
removal  of  the  remains  to  the  tomb.  At  early  dawn  the  bells  resumed 
their  toll:  business  remained  suspended,  and  all  the  evidences  of 
public  mourning  were  continued. 

"At  10  o'clock  a  civic  procession,  under  the  direction  of  the  Mar. 
shal,  having  been  formed,  the  body  was  then  removed  from  the 
catafalque  in  the  City  Hall  and  borne  on  a  bier  by  the  guards  of  honor 
to  St.  Philip's  Church ;  on  reaching  the  Church,  which  was  draped  in 
the  deepest  mourning,  the  cortege  proceeded  up  the  central  aisle  to  a 
stand  covered  with  black  velvet,  upon  which  the  bier  was  deposited. 
After  an  anthem  sung  by  a  full  choir,  the  Right  ^Reverend  Dr.  Gads- 
den, Bishop  of  the  Diocese,  with  great  feeling  and  solemnity,  read  the 
burial  service,  to  which  succeeded  an  eloquent  funeral  discourse  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Miles.-  The  holy  rites  ended,  the  body  was  again  borne 
by  the  guard  of  honor  to  the  western  cemetery  of  the  Church  to  the 
tomb  erected  for  its  temporary  abode,  a  solid  structure  of  masonry 
raised  above  the  surface  and  lined  with  cedar  wood.  Near  by,  pen- 
dant from  the  tall  spar  that  supported  it,  drooped  the  flag  of  the  Union, 
its  folds  mournfully  sweeping  the  verge  of  the  tomb  as  swayed  by  the 
passing  wind,  enwrapped  in  the  pall  that  first  covered  it  on  reaching 
the  shores  of  Carolina.  The  iron  coffin,  with  its  sacred  trust,  was 
lowered  to  its  resting  place,  and  the  massive  slab,  simply  inscribed 
with  the  name  'C.alhoun,"  adjusted  to  its  position." 

It  was  ultimately  decided  tliat  there  was  no  fitter  place  in 
the  State  for  the  repose  of  Mr.  Calhoun's  remains  than  where 
they  had  been  laid;  and  that  there  they  should  remain.  It 
being  feared  during  the  late  war  that,  if  the  city  should  fall 
into  the  enemy's  hands,  despite  might  be  done  to  the  remains 
of  him  who  was  regarded  as  the  great  apostle  of  Southern 
rights,  and  whose  doctrines,  it  was  said,  had  brought  on  the 
war,  his  tonil)  was  quietly  and  secretly  opened,  and  the  coffin 
containing  them  removed  to  another  place  in  the  eastern 
church  yard  where  they  remained  until  the  war  was  over 
when  they  were  as  quietly  restored  to  the  original  tomb. 

*  Rev.  James  W.  Miles. 


43 

In  December,  1883,  Mr.  Charles  Inglesby,  a  member  of 
St.  Philip's  Church,  then  a  RejDreseiitative  in  the  State 
Legislature  from  Charleston,  introduced  a  Joint  Kesohition 
appropriating  funds  for  the  construction  and  erection  of  a 
Sarcophagus  upon  the  grave.      The  Resolution  recited  tliat  : 

"Whereas,  upon  the  announcement  in  March,  185U,  of  the  lamented 
death  of  the  late  Senator  John  C.  Calhoun,  the  State  of  South  Caro- 
lina claimed  the  privilege  of  taking  into  its  custody  his  remains,  and 
did  cause  them  to  be  removed,  with  the  highest  public  honors,  to  the 
City  of  Charleston  for  burial : 

"And  whereas,  for  want  of  time  it  was  only  then  possible  to  erect  a 
temporary  structure  in  which  Senator  Calhoun's  remains  could  be 
deposited ; 

"And  whereas,  by  reason  of  the  many  public  disabilities  since 
accruing,  which  have  prevented  the  intended  action  of  the  General 
Assembly  in  the  construction  of  an  appropriate  sarcophagus  of  endur- 
ing material,  suitably  inscribed,  in  which  the  remains  of  South  Caro- 
lina's distinguished  son  may  be  forever  preserved; 

"And  whereas,  the  time  is  now  opportune  for  discharging  this  high 
public  duty."' 

With  this  recital  the  Joint  Resolution  was  passed  unani- 
mously, appropriating  the  sum  of  three  thousand  dollars  for 
the  "erecting  in  St.  Philip's  Church  yard,  in  the  City  of 
Charleston,  of  a  sarcophagus,  for  the  remains  of  John  C. 
Calhoun,  which  are  there  buried. ' '  {18th  Stat  of  S.  C. ,  661. ) 
With  the  sum  so  appropriated  the  sarcophagus  was  erected.* 
Dr.  Johnson  kindly  furnishes  this  description  of  the  tomb  : 

*  "The  massive  slab,  simply  inscribed  with  the  name  'Calhoun'  " — 
which  (so  grand  in  its  simplicity)  marked  the  temporary  tomb  and 
had  to  be  moved  to  make  way  for  the  State's  Sarcophagus — is  fixed  in 
vertical  position  against  the  south  wall  of  St.  Philip's  Sunday  School 
Building,  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  eastern  cemetery,  and  bears 
the  following  additional  inscription: 

''This  marble  for  thirty -four  years  covered  the  tomb  of  CALHO  UN 
in  the  Western  Churchyard.  It  has  been  placed  here  by  the  Vestry,  near 
the  spot  tvJiere  his  remains  were  interred  during  the  siege  of  Charleston, 
from,  which  sp)Ot  they  were  afterwards  removed  to  the  original  tomb, 
and  subsequently  deposited  under  the  Sarcojihagus  erected  on  the 
same  site  in  18S4  by  the  State." 


44 


THE    SARCOPHAGUS    OF    CALHOUN. 


''Situated  in  the  centre  of  the  western  cemetery  of  St. 
Philip's  Church,  and  in  direct  extension  of  the  line  of  its 
length  from  east  to  west,  this  sarcophagus  holds  the  mortal 
remains  of  South  Carolina's  great  statesman.  It  is  built  of 
polished  granite,  rising  from  a  base  of  10  by  6  feet  to  a 
total  height  of  10  feet.  The  iron  coffin  rests  between  the 
spaces  prepared  for  it  in  the  base  just  mentioned,  and  in  a 
heavy  block,  4  by  8  feet,  superimposed  upon  it.  Four 
highly  polished  columns,  one  at  each  angle  of  the  super- 
structure, support  a  solid  mass  of  entablature  and  pediment, 
covering  and  finishing  the  structure  in  rectangular  dimen- 
sions, somewhat  less  than  those  of  the  base  first  described. 
The  inscriptions  are  as  follows  : 

[North  Side.] 
Erected  by  the  State  of  South  Carolina. 

[South  Side.] 

JOHN  CALDWELL  CALHOUN. 

Born  March  18,  1782. 

Died  March  31,  1850. 

[East  Side.] 

Representative  in  the  Legislature. 

Member  of  Congress. 

United  States  Senator. 

[West  Side.] 
Secretary  of  War. 

Vice-President. 
Secretary  of  State. 

A  beautiful  and  vigorous  JMagnolia  tree,  planted  near  the 
sarcophagus,  on  the  western  side,  rises  some  thirty  feet  above 
it;  and,    perennially  green,  typifies   the  undying   reputation 


47 

of  the  man,  as  well  as  the  unchanging  affection  of  the  people 
who  were  most  dear  to  him." 

Upon  the  death  of  Bishop  Gadsden,  in  1852,  the  Rev. 
John  Barnwell  Campbell  became  Rector;  and  the  Rev. 
Christopher  P.  Gadsden,  the  deceased  Bishop's  nephew, 
became  Assistant  Minister,  remaining  as  such  for  six  years, 
when  he  became  Rector  of  St.  Luke's.  Mr.  Campbell 
resigned  in  1858,  and  in  1859  the  Rev.  William  R.  Dehon 
became  Rector,  and  the  Rev.  W.  B.  W.  Howe,  Assistant 
Minister.  Mr.  Dehon  died  in  1862,  and  Mr.  Howe  suc- 
ceeded him  as  Rector  in  1863. 

When  the  steeple  of  St.  Philip's  Church  was  completed, 
early  in  the  decade  of  the  fifties,  a  clock,  with  a  chime  of 
bells  attached  so  as  to  ring  tunes  by  the  clock  work,  was 
presented  to  the  church  by  Mr.  Colin  Campbell,  of  Beaufort, 
S.  C,  an  uncle  of  the  then  incumbent  Rector,  the  Rev.  John 
Barnwell  Campbell.  The  bells  were  taken  down  in  the 
beginning  of  the  war  and  given  to  the  Confederate  Govern- 
ment to  be  cast  into  cannon. 

During  the  late  war  the  steeples  of  St.  Philip's  and  St. 
Michael's,  the  most  conspicuous  objects  in  the  city  from  a 
distance,  served  as  targets  for  the  great  guns  with  which  the 
city  was  bombarded.  St.  Philip's  suffered  particularly. 
Ten  or  more  shells  entered  its  walls.  The  chancel  was 
destroyed,  the  roof  pierced  in  several  places,  and  the  organ 
demolished. 

The  congregation  had  continued  to  worship  in  the  church, 
after  the  bombardment  had  begun,  until  the  19th  November, 
1863,  that  day  being  a  Thanksgiving  Day,  when,  during  the 
delivery  of  the  sermon  by  the  Rector,  a  shell  fell  and  burst 
near  the  church.  It  was  during  this  time  that  the  Rector, 
the  Rev.  W.  B.  W.  Howe,  so  endeared  himself,  to  the  con- 
gregation and  community  at  large.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Johnson, 
the  present  Rector  of  the  church — himself  the  Engineer 
Officer   of   Fort   Sumter,    by   whose   skill,  patient  labor  and 


48 

bravery  the  crumbling  walls  of  the  fort  were   rendered   tena- 
ble— thus  speaks  of  Mr.  Howe's  conduct  at  this  time  : 

"Upon  the  background  of  the  political  troubles,  the  exciting  times 
the  agitated  feelings  of  that  period,  Mr.  Howe  administered  with  a 
calm  unswerving  fidelity,  a  gentle  tact,  a  good  judgment,  a  firm  hold 
on  the  people's  affections.  While  some  flocks  scattered,  and  some 
shepherds  left  the  threatened  and  beleaguered  city  to  minister  to  the 
refugees  in  the  interior  of  the  State,  the  Rector  of  St.  Philip's  hesi- 
tated not  to  stay  here  from  the  beginning  to  the  ending  of  the  war  in 
active  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  station.  Though  the  congregation 
continued  to  be  large,  he  found  time  to  visit  assiduously  the  sick  and 
wounded  in  the  hospitals.  Though  the  sound  of  battle  grew  nearer 
from  Port  Royal  to  James  Island  in  1861  and  1862,  and  the  smoke  of 
battle  hung  around  our  harbor  in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1863,  the 
regular  services  of  the  church  were  maintained  in  this  building.  And 
it  was  not  until  the  autumn  of  1868,  that,  while  the  Rector  was 
preaching  one  Sunday  in  his  pulpit,  a  shell  fired  upon  the  city  from 
the  enemy's  batteries  on  Morris  Island,  was  heard  to  fall  and  explode 
in  the  western  church  yard.  The  congregation  sat  until  the  sermon 
was  concluded  in  the  regular  time  and  manner.  But  from  that  date 
the  religious  services  at  St.  Philip's  were  discontinued,  the  doors  were 
shut,  the  damages  of  the  bombardment  proceeded,  and  the  building 
came  in  for  its  share  of  them." 

Bursting  shells  drove  also  the  congregations  of  St.  Michael's 
and  Grace  away  from  their  churches,  and  they,  with  the  con- 
gregation of  St.  Philip's,  united  for  worship,  on  Advent 
Sunday,  1863,  in  the  spacious  church  of  St.  Paul's.  Here 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Howe,  in  connection  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Keith 
and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Elliott,  Minister  and  Assistant  Minister  of 
St.  Michael's,  ministered  the  consolations  of  the  Gospel  to  a 
large  flock  until  the  first  Sunday  in  Lent,  March  5,  1865. 

Mr.  Howe,  then  alone  remaining  in  charge  of  the  mixed 
congregation,  upon  the  fall  of  the  city  was  recjuired  by  the 
Federal  military  authorities  to  pray  for  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  This  his  allegiance  to  the  Confederate 
Government  forbid  as  long  as  the  war  continued;  and,  like 
one  of  his  predecessors  in  the  Rectorship  of  St.  Philip's  and 
also  in  the  Bishopric  of  the  Diocese,  he  was  banished  from 
the   city.      Bishop   Smith   was   banished   from   the    city    for 


49 

refusing  to  use  the  prayer  for  the  King  of  England  ;  Bishop 
Howe  was  banished  for  refusing  to  use  the  prayer  for  the 
President  of  the  United  States. 

Upon  the  return  of  the  members  of  the  congregation,  at 
the  end  of  the  war,  steps  were  at  once  taken  to  repair  the 
church,  so  far  at  least  as  to  allow  services  to  be  resumed. 
The  Vestry,  which  had  been  elected  at  Easter,  1864,  held 
over,  and  at  once  took  steps  to  this  end.  Mr.  James  T. 
Welsman,  a  member  of  the  congregation,  most  generously 
advanced  the  money  necessary;  and  divine  service  was 
resumed  in  the  church,  after  an  interval  of  two  years  and 
nearly  four  months,  on  Sunday,  the  4th  March,  1866,  with 
a  large  congregation  then  and  there  assembled.  Upon  this 
occasion,  the  Rev,  Mr.  Howe,  the  Hector,  preached  a  most 
elocjuent  sermon  from  the  text  :  "I  am  the  Lord,  I  change 
not;  therefore  ye  sons  of  Jacob  are  not  consumed,"  Malachi 
iii,  6,  in  which  he  thus  touchingly  and  manfully  referred  to 
the  events  which  had  occurred  since  the  congregation  had 
separated,  after  the  service  on  that  memorable  Thanksgiving 
Day,  in  1863,  when  the  enemy's  shells  were  falling  around 
them  : 

"Beloved  brethren,  we  who  are  here  present  before  God  have  all  of 
us  met  of  late  some  of  the  great  problems  of  life,  not  in  the  schools  of 
the  philosopbers,  or  in  the  verses  of  the  poet,  or  in  the  pages  of  the 
historian,  or  in  the  experiences  of  others,  but  in  our  own  persons,  and 
that,  too.  eye  to  eye,  and  face  to  face.  Is  it  not  acause  for  congratu- 
lation, then,  .that  not  our  faith,  nor  our  love,  nor  our  knowledge, 
which  may  fail  in  the  "hour  and  power  of  darkness,"  is  to  be  our  stay 
and  support,  but  our  Heavenly  [Father,  who  is  greater  than  all,  and 
who  will  not  permit  'tribulation  or  distress,  or  persecution  or  famine, 
or  nakedness  or  peril,  or  sword,'  to  pluck  us  out  of  our  great  Redeemer's 
hands  1  Yes,  it  is  the  unchangeable  faithfulness  of  [our  God  toward 
His  people — unchangeable  in  all  the  vicissitudes  of  life,  and  faithful 
where  all  else  is  false— which  can  alone  in  seasons  of  great  trial  enable 
us  to  come  off  conquerors;  and  it  is  to  this  faithfulness,  therefore, 
that  I  would  now  especially  point  you.  I  wish,  before  I  conclude,  to 
contemplate  my  text  in  relation  to  our  immediate  present  and  to  the 
past  four  years.  My  own  absence  from  you  for  a  twelve  month,  and 
the  re-assembling  of  the  congregation  for  the  first  time  after  the  lapse 
of  more  than  two  years  within  these  hallowed  and  dear  walls,  so 
4 


60 

sadly  eloquent  of  days  that  are  past,  must  be  my  excuse,  if  any  is 
needed,  for  handling  at  this  time  and  place  our  grievous  wounds,  and 
which,  if  I  uncover  for  a  moment, '.God  knows  it  is  not  to  'put  a 
tongue  in  them  that  should  move  the  stones  of  Rome  to  mutiny,'  but 
to  heal  them,  if  they  may  be  healed.  At  all  events,  I  will  poiir  upon 
them  the  only  wine  and  oil  that  in  my  heart  I  believe  can  heal  them. 

"Shall  I  then  seek  to  persuade  you  of  a  brilliant  future,  and  in  it  ask 
you  to  forget  the  past  ?  Shall  I  ask  you  to  transfer  your  affections 
from  the  Union  of  our  Fathers  to  one  which  asserts  a  French  Repub- 
licanism ?  Brethren,  I  will  be  guilty  of  no  such  quackery  as  this.  I 
pray  that  a  prosperous  future  may  be  in  store  for  us,  if  God  wills,  and 
will  labor  together  with  you  to  bring  it  to  pass ;  but  even  the  prospects 
of  such  a  future  cannot  heal  thos^^  who  in  the  late  war  contended  for 
principles  more  than  for  results.  How  then,  as  Christian  men.  shall 
we  view  present  results  f  Shall  we  view  them  as  condemning  the 
cause  for  which  we  prayed  and  suffered  and  died,  aad  as  proclaiming 
it  to  be  an  imrighteous  cause  ?  For  one  I  am  this  day  as  satisfied  of 
its  justness,  consonance  with  previous  American  principles,  as  when 
I  last  spoke  to  you  from  this  pulpit,  and  you  listened  m  your  present 
places  while  shells  from  distant  cannon  burst  around  us.  It  is  due  to 
the  living,  who  entered  upon  that  contest  sincerely,  and  who  still  feel 
that  its  merits  are  unaffected  by  results,  to  say  thus  much:  and  it  is 
due  also  to  our  gallant  dead,  who  did  not  count  their  lives  dear  unto 
themselves,  to  say  it.  History  indeed  will  do  them  .iustice  as  she 
weighs  in  impartial  balance  the  cause  for  which  they  fell ;  but  it  ill 
becomes  us  to  put  a  seal  upon  our  lips  and  delegate  to  the  future  their 
vindication ;  but  now,  this  day,  and  all  the  days  of  our  lives,  to  say  of 
them  what  Pericles  said  from  the  bema,  outside  the  walls  of  Athens, 
over  those  Athenians  who  fell  in  the  first  year  of  the  Peloponnesian 
war:  'Therefore,  in  behall 'of  such  a  city  as  Athens  is,  these  men, 
whose  bones  we  have  laid  in  yonder  mound,  died  fighting  bravely, 
rightly  judging  that  she  ought  not  to  be  robbed  of  all  that  made  iier 
glorious.  Let  us  who  sur\'ive,  like  them,  be  willing  to  suffer  for  her 
sake.'  Not  a  whit  behind  these 'countrymen  of  Pericles  were  our 
fathers  and  husbands  and  brothers  and  sons  who  now  sleep  ur)on  many 
a  battlefield  in  these  once  fair,  but  now  desolated  Southern  States,  and 
who,  like  the  children  of  Athens  more  than  two  thousand  years  ago, 
fell  fighting  bravely  in  behalf  of  the  traditions  of  their  fathers,  of 
Southern  civilization,  and  of  the  rights  of  self-government.  That  they 
fell  in  behalf  of  the  weaker  side  cannot  tarnish  their  fair  fame. 
Rather  do  we  who  survive  feel  that  in  their  graves  lie  buried  beyond 
a  resurrection  the  fruits  of  ancestral  toil,  and  all  that  once  made  us 
proud  of  the  name  of  American,"  &c.,  &c. 

The  church-building  had  been  repaired  only  sufficiently  to 
allow   the   services  to  be   resumed,    and  in    1877  it  became 


51 

necessary  to  have  a  complete  and  thorough  reparation  and 
restoration  of  the  editice.  This  was  undertaken  and  accom- 
plished at  large  expense.  But  by  economy  and  careful  man- 
agement so  successfully  were  the  affairs  of  the  church 
conducted,  that  not  only  had  all  the  expense  of  restoration 
been  met  and  discharged,  but  the  congregation  had,  at  a  cost 
of  $11,000.00,  purchased  a  building  adjoining  the  eastern 
church  yard,  on  the  south,  which  had  been  an  hotel,  and 
converted  it  into  a  Church  Home  for  indigent  ladie?  of  the 
congregation — when  another  terrible  calamity  befell.  The 
Vestry  of  the  Church  had  had  a  meeting  on  the  afternoon  of 
the  31st  August,  1886,  at  which  time  the  reports  of  the 
committees  showed  that  all  debts  incurred  by  the  restoration 
from  its  injuries  in  the  war,  and  upon  all  other  accounts, 
excepting  one  still  remaining  from  the  original  building  of 
the  church,  which  was  amply  secured,  had  been  fully  paid 
and  discharged,  when  in  a  few  hours  the  church  was  again  in 
ruins  from  the  appalling  earthquake  of  that  night.  The  walls 
were  cracked,  the  west  porch  destroyed,  the  north  and  south 
porclies  shattered,  the  roof  was  broken  through  by  the  fall 
of  iron  columns  and  bricks  from  the  steeple,  the  galleries 
dislocated,  the  chancel  walls  were  cracked.  The  steeple  was 
very  much  injured,  the  iron  column  and  brick  arches  in  the 
lantern  were  thrown  down.  The  cost  of  repairing  the  build- 
ing from  this  second  disaster  was  little  less  than  $20,000. 

The  following  named  clergymen  have  gone  forth  from  St. 
Philip's  Church,  most  of  whom  were  baptized  at  her  font  : 
The  Reverends  Peter  Manigault  Parker,  James  Dewar 
Simons,  Christopher  Edwards  Gadsden  (Bishop),  Alston 
Gibbs,  Paul  Trapier  Gervais,  Edward  Rutledge,  Thomas  D. 
Frost,  Edward  Neufville,  Maurice  Harvey  Lance,  Francis  H. 
Rutledge  (Bishop),  Philip  Gadsden,  Alexander  Marshall, 
Edward  Phillips,  Daniel  Cobia,  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney, 
Jr.,  James  Maxwell  Pringle,  Christopher  P.  Gadsden,  Roberts 
Poinsett  Johnson,  P.  F.  Stevens,  James  W.  Miles,  Edward 


52 

R.  Miles,  Lucien  C.  Lance,  Henry  L.  Phillips,  Thomas  F. 
Gadsden,  J.  Mercier  Green,  John  Johnson,  F.  Marion  Hall, 
William  H.  Moreland,  Edward  McCrady,*and  J.  W.  Cantey 
Johnson. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  Clergy  of  the  Church  for  two 
hundred  and  seventeen  years.  During  all  of  this  time  it  will 
be  observed  that  there  have  beeen  but  sixteen  Rectors,  and 
what  is  more  remarkable  that  the  joint  terms  of  four  of  these 
cover  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  thirty- five  years,  to  wit  : 
Commissary  Garden,  35  years;  Bishop  Smith,  42  years; 
Bishop  Gadsden,  32  years;  and  the  present  Rector,  Dr. 
Johnson,  26  years.  There  have  been  during  that  time 
twenty-four  Assistant  Ministers. 

Rectors. 

Atkin  Williamson 16S0- .... 

Samuel  Marshall 1696-1699 

Edward  Marston 1699-1705 

Richard  Marsden 1705-lTOT 

Gideon  Johnson  (Commissary) 1707-1716 

Alexander  Garden  (Commissary).  .    1719-1754 

Richard  Clarke 1755-1759 

Robert  Smith  (First  Bishop  of  So.  Ca.) 1759-1801 

Thomas  Frost 1801-1804 

Edward  Jenkins 1804-1809 

James  Dewar  Simons 1809-1814 

Christopher  E.  Gadsden  (Bishop) 1814-1852 

John  Barnwell  Campbell 1852-1858 

William  Dehon .1859-1862 

William  B.  W.  Howe  (Bishop) 1863-1872 

John  Johnson  (the  present  incumbent) 1872 

Assistant  Ministers. 

Thomas  Morritt 1717-1728 

John  Lambert 1728-1729 

*  The  son  of  Prof.  John  MoCrady. 


53 

William  Orr 1737-1741 

William  McGilchrist 1741-1745 

Robert  Betliam 1746-1747 

Samuel  Qiiincy 1747-1749 

Alexander  Keith 1749-1753 

John  Andrews 1755-1756 

Robert  Smith  (First  Bishop  of  So.  Ca.) 1756-1759 

Joseph  D.  Wilton 1761-1767 

Jaihes  Crallan 1767-1768 

Robert  Purcell 1769-1775 

Thomas  Frost 1786-1801 

Peter  M.  Parker 1801-1 802 

Milward  Pogson 1802- 

James  Dewar  Simons -1809 

Christopher  E.  Gadsden   (Bishop) 1809-1814 

Thomas  D.  Frost 1815-1819 

Allston  Gibbs 1819- .... 

Daniel  Cobia 1834-1837 

Abraham  Kaufman 1837-1839 

John  Barnwell  Campbell 1840-1852 

Christopher  P.  Gadsden 1852-1858 

William  B.  W.  Howe  (Bishop) 1859-1863 

John  Johnson  (the  present  incumbent). 1871-1872 


There  is  probably  no  cemetery  in  this  country  which  con- 
tains the  remains  of  so  many  men  who  have  been  illustrious 
in  its  history,  in  Church  and  State,  as  does  the  Church  Yard 
of  St.  Philip's.  In  this  respect  among  others  St.  Philip's  is 
the  Abbey  of  South  Carolina.  Before  the  old  church  was 
completed  Robert  Daniel,  who  had  been  Deputy  Governor  of 
North  Carolina,  and  a  Landgrave  and  Governor  of  South 
Carolina,  was  buried  near  its  rising  walls,  in  1718;  and  near 
him,  about  the  same  time,  was  interred  George  Logan, 
Speaker  of  the  Commons.  Still  before  the  old  church  was 
opened    Colonel    William   Rhett,    the   hero    of    the    defense 


54 

a2:ainst  the  invasion  of  the  S])aniards  and  French  in  1706. 
and  of  the  expedition  against  the  pirates  in  1718,  the  donor 
of  the  Silver  Communion  Service  to  the  church,*  vras  interred 
in  the  western  yard,  just  in  front  of  the  church,  in  1722. 
Thomas  Hepworth,  Chief  Justice,  was  buried  there  in  1728. 
A  slab  of  slate  still  marks  the  grave  of  the  Rev.  John  Lam- 
bert, Master  of  the  Free  School  and  Afternoon  Lecturer  of 
the  Parish,  who  died  in  1729.  In  1735  "the  good  Governor 
Robert  Johnson,"  as  he  was  affectionately  called — Governor 
both  under  the  Proprietary  and  Royal  Governments — was 
interred  near  the  chancel  of  the  church.  The  profound 
jurist  and  learned  theologian,  the  father  of  the  law  and  of 
the  Courts  in  South  Carolina,  though  alas  !  the  corrupt 
Judge,  Chief  Justice  Trott,  worshipped  in  the  church,  and 
was  buried  in  the  church  yard  in  1740.  Then  followed  three 
other  Chief  Justices — James  Graeme,  in  1752;  Charles 
Pinckney,  in  1758;  and  Peter  Leigh,  in  1759;  and  Andrew 
Rutledge,  Speaker  of  the  Commons,  in  1755.  The  Rev. 
Alexander  Garden,  Commissary  of  the  Bishop  of  London, 
was  interred  on  the  south  side  of  the  church  in  a  tomb  which 
the  Vestry  had  built  as  a  mark  of  their  gratitude  for  his  long 
and  faithful  services.  To  Hector  Berenger  DeBeaufain, 
Collector  of  Her  Majesty's  Customs,  was  erected  a  handsome 
memorial  tablet  in  the  old  church  by  his  fellow-citizens  of 
the  Province.  Upon  the  walls  of  the  old  church  stood  also 
a  slab  to  the  memory  of  the  Honorable  Othniel  Buale,  a 
member  of  the  King's  Council,  and  for  twenty-seven  years 
Colonel  of  the  Charlestown  Regiment.  Roger  Pinckney, 
the  last  royal  Provost  Marshal  of  the  Province,  is  buried  in  the 
eastern  cemetery.      The  tomb  of  Benjamin    Smith,  Speaker 

*  Noble  benefactions  have  from  the  earliest  times  been  made  to  the 
church.  Among  the  donors  have  been  Mrs.  Affra  Coming — Colonel 
William  Rhett— Mrs.  Kirkland — Mrs.  Sarah  Hort — Colin  Campbell — 
James  T.  Welsman— Charles  T.  Lowndes — John  Wroughton  Mitchell, 
and  his  son  Clarence  G.  Mitchell,  and  grand-son  Clarence  B.  Mitchell 
— Mrs.  Juliet  F.  Wallace — Mrs.  Harriet  L.  Gervais — Mi.ss  Susan  B. 
Hayne — and  Mrs,  Anna  D.  Kaufman. 


55 


from  1754  to  1764,  still  stands  next  to  that  of  Colonel  Rliett, 
his  ancestor,  in  the  western  cemetery,  directly  in  front  of  the 
church.  Of  physicians  there  worshipped  in  this  charch  the 
two  Doctors  John  Moultrie,  father  and  son — Dr.  John  Rut- 
ledge,  father  of  the  distinguished  trio  of  sons — and  Dr.  Lionel 
Chalmers;   the  two  last  are  buried  in  the  church  yard. 

Of  the  statesmen,  heroes  and  exiles  of  the  Revolution  many 
lie  around  the  edifice.  Among  these  are  Christopher  Gads- 
den, the  foremost  of  all,  and  William  Johnson,  his  uncom- 
promising follower  and  ' '  right  hand  man ; ' '  Rawlins  Lowndes, 
Governor  in  1778,  who  requested  that  the  epitaph  upon  his 
tomb  should  be:  ''The  opponent  of  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States;"'  Edward  Rutledge,  signer 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  Governor;  Colonel 
Isaac  Motte,  second  in  command  at  the  battle  of  Fort  IVIoul- 
trie,  2Sth  June.  1776;  Thomas  Pinckney,  Major  in  the  Con- 
tinental Army  during  the  Revolution,  Major-General  in  the 
War  of  1812,  Minister  to  England  and  Spain,  and  Governor 
of  the  State;  Major  Benjamin  Huger,  who  fell  before  the 
lines  of  Charlestown,  on  tlie  lltli  May,  1779,  during  Pro- 
vost's invasion;  Major  Thomas  Grimball,  who  commanded 
the  Battalion  of  Artillery  during  the  siege  of  Charlestown, 
in  1780;  Daniel  Iluger,  Charles  Pinckney  and  John  Lewis 
Gervais,  the  three  members  of  the  Council  who  accompanied 
Governor  Rutledge  when  it  was  determined  that  he  should 
leave  the  town  before  its  surrender  to  the  British,  in  order 
to  preserve  the  Government  of  the  State. 

The  Rev.  Robert  Smith,  Rector  of  the  Cluirch,  and  Jimt 
Bishop  of  South  Carolina,  who  was  banished  by  the  British 
authorities  and  his  property  confiscated,  lies  to  the  east  of  the 
church  near  the  chancel. 

Upon  the  walls  of  the  old  church  there  Avas  a  tablet  to  the 
memory  of  Jacob  and  Rebecca  Motte.  Jacob  Motte  was  a 
distinguished  citizen,  long  the  Treasurer  of  the  Province;  his 
widow,  Rebecca,  was  the  heroine  of  Fort  Motte,  the  lady 
who  fired  her  own  roof  as  the  most  decisive  method  of  reduc- 


56 


iug  tlie  hostile  British  garrison  wliich  held  and  sujTounded  it 
with  their  works. 

There  was  also  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  Charles 
Dewar  Simons,  Professor  of  Natural  Science  and  Chemistry 
in  the  South  Carolina  College,  who  was  drowned  near 
Columbia,  in  1812. 

Of  a  later  period  are  found  the  graves  of  Thomas  W. 
Bacot,  the  first  Postmaster  of  Charleston  under  the  present 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  who  was  appointed  by 
Washington,  and  held  the  office  for  forty-three  years  contin- 
uously ;  ^md  of  iiis  son  of  the  same  name.  Assistant  Postmaster 
for  thirty-six  years  under  his  father  and  the  Hon.  Alfred 
Huger;  and  also  of  Judge  Elihu  Hall  Bay;  Judge  Theodore 
Gaillard;  the  "gifted''  and  brilliant  William  Ciafts;  the 
venerable  Daniel  Huger;  Di-.  Henry  K.  Frost,  and  Dr. 
Thomas  G.  Prioleau,  Chairmen  of  the  Vestry;  the  distin- 
guished son  and  grandsons  of  Bishop  Smith,  William  Mason 
Smith,  and  J.  J.  Pringle  Smith  and  William  Mason  Smith, 
Jr  ,  the  two  former  each  for  years  Chairmen  of  tlie  Vestry ; 
Mr,  J.  J.  Pringle  Smith,  a  distinguished  representative  of 
the  Parish  in  the  Diocesan  Convention,  and  of  the  Diocese 
in  the  General  Convention  of  the  Church,  and  a  member  of 
the  Secession  Convention;  Henry  D.  Lesesne,  Chairman  of 
the  Vestry,  and  a  Chancellor  of  the  State;  and  the  late 
Charles  Richardson  Miles,  Attorney-General  of  the  State, 
and  a  Delegate  to  the  Diocesan  Convention ;  John  Blake 
White,  the  artist,  and  his  son.  Colonel  Alonzo  J.  White,  are 
buried  in  the  eastern  cemetery;  Edward  B.  White,  the 
architect,  the  builder  of  the  present  steeple,  another  son  of 
the  artist,  a  member  of  the  church,  is  buried  elsewhere. 

The  congregation  has  also  furnished  a  number  of  distin- 
guished Naval  Officers.  Colonel  Thomas  Shubrick,  of  the 
Revolution,  himself  the  captain  of  a  vessel — his  four  sons, 
Rear  Admiral  William  Branford  Shubrick,  Captain  John 
Taylor  Shubrick,  who  was  lost  at  sea  while  bearing  to  the 
United    States    the    treaty    with    Algiers    in    1815,   Captain 


59 


Edward  Kutledge  Shubrick,  and  Commodore  Irwine  Shubrick 
were  all  of  this  church. 

A  monumental  stone,  erected  by  the  officers,  seamen  and 
marines  of  the  United  States  Frigate  Columbia,  in  memory 
of  their  beloved  Commander,  Edward  R.  Shubrick,  stands 
over  his  grave  in  the  eastern  church  yard. 

Commodore  Duncan  N.  Ingraham,  of  "Kosta"  fame,  was 
for  years  Chairman  of  the  Vestry. 

Within  a  hundred  yards  of  each  other,  in  the  western 
cemetery  of  the  church,  it  so  happens  that  there  lie,  almOvSt 
in  line,  the  remains  of  four  of  the  leaders  of  the  great  nullifi- 
cation struggle — on  the  one  side  the  two  ntbllijiers^  John  C. 
Calhoun  and  Robert  J.  Turnbull — and  on  the  other  the  two 
Johnsons,  union  men,  sons  of  William,  before  mentioned,  to 
wit  :  William  Johnson,  who  was  Speaker  of  the  State  House 
of  Representatives  at  twenty-six  years  of  age,  a  Judge  on  the 
State  Bench  at  twenty-eight,  and  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  at  thirty-two;  and  his  brother.  Dr. 
Joseph  Johnson,  Mayor  of  the  Ci^'y,  etc. 

The  fallowing  deceased  Members  of  Congress  have  come 
from  the  congregation  :  William  Laughton  Smith,  General 
John  Rutledge,  Joel  R.  Poinsett,  AVilliam  Lowndes,  Henry 
L.  Pinckney,  Isaac  E.  Holmes  and  William  Aiken.  Wil- 
liam Porcher  Miles,  still  living,  also  a  member  of  the  congre- 
gation, was  the  last  Member  of  Congress  from  the  Charleston 
District  before  the  war,  and  was  also  a  Member  of  the 
Confederate  Congress.  It  is  remarkable  that  three  Members 
of  Congress  from  Charleston  were  chosen  in  succession  from 
St.  Philip's  congregation,  to  wit  :  Holmes,  Aiken  and  Miles. 
The  Hon.  William  Henry  Trescot  (still  living).  Assistant 
Secretary  of  State  under  President  Buchanan's  administration, 
Agent  of  the  United  States  before  the  Halifax  Commission, 
Minister  to  China  and  to  Peru,  is  also  of  this  church. 

Besides  the  clergymen  we  have  already  named  as  buried  in 
the  yard,  there  lie  around  the  church  :  Bishop  Smith,  Bichop 
Gadsden,  Bishop  Howe,  the  Reverends  Thomas   Frost,    Mil- 


60 

ward  Pogson,  James  Dewar  Simons,  Thomas  D.  Frost, 
Cranmore  Wallace,  Paul  T.  Gervais,  Christopher  P.  Gadsden, 
William  Dehon,  F.  Marion  Hall  and  James  W.  Miles, 

In  the  western  church  yard,  besides  Edward  McCrady  (one 
of  the  exiles  and  the  first  of  his  name  in  this  country),  above 
mentioned,  there  lie  his  son  John,  a  brilliant  young  lawyer, 
whose  premature  death  was  mourned  by  the  community;  his 
son,  the  late  venerable  Edward  McCrady,  lawyer  and  theolo- 
gian, for  years  District  Attorney  of  the  United  States,  and  a 
member  of  the  Secession  Convention,  and  who  for  over  fifty 
years  represented  St.  Philip's  in  the  Diocesan  Convention^ 
and  for  forty  years  was  a  member  of  the  Standing  Committee 
of  the  Diocese,  and  for  more  than  thirty  a  Deputy  of  the 
Diocese  in  the  General  Convention  of  the  Episcopal  Church ; 
and  his  sons — Professor  John  Mc(]rady,  Major  of  Engineers 
in  the  Confederate  Army,  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  the 
Charleston  College,  of  Zoology  in  Harvard,  Cambridge, 
Mass.,  and  of  Biology  in  the  University  of  the  South — and 
Thomas  McCrady,  an  officer  of  the  Confederate  Army,  and 
beloved  by  the  community.  In  this  yard  there  is  the  grave 
of  Colonel  John  DeBerniere,  of  the  British  Army,  the  ances- 
tor of  several  families  in  N^orth  and  South  Carolina. 

In  the  eastern  cemetery  there  is  a  slab  with  the  simple 
inscription  :  "Mrs.  Cornelia  Fremont."  This  slab  marks 
the'grave  of  the  mother  of  General  John  C.  Fremont,  the 
"Path  Finder"'  across  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  first  candi- 
date of  the  Republican  Party  for  the  Presidency  of  the  United 
States,  and  Federal  General  in  the  late  war. 

Of  others  distinguished  in  the  annals  of  the  Province  and 
State  who  worshipped  in  the  church,  but  were  buried  else- 
where, there  were  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  the  Governor, 
under  whose  administration  the  invasion  of  the  Province  by 
the  French  and  Spaniards  took  place  in  1706,  and  the  fierce 
contest  was  waged  over  the  Church  Acts  of  1704-1706;  the 
Rev  Gideon  Johnson,  Commissary,  who  was  drowned  in  the 
harbor    in    1716:    Chief    Justices    Benjamin    Whitakcr  and 


61 


James  Micliie;  Arthur  Middleton,  J'resident  of  the  Conven- 
tion whicli  overthrew  tlie  Proprietary  Government;  Henry 
Middleton,  who  was  President  of  the  Continental  Congress 
in  1774;  his  son,  Arthur  Middleton,  signer  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence;  his  son,  Henry  Middleton,  Governor  of 
the  State  and  Minister  to  Russia;  Henry  Laurens,  President 
of  the  Continental  Congress  from  1776  to  1778;  and  his  son, 
Colonel  John  Laurens,  an  Aide  to  Wasliington  and  Env'o}-  to 
France;  General  William  Moultrie,  the  hero  of  the  28th 
June,  1776,  who  twice  saved  the  city  from  capture  by  the 
British;  Gabriel  Manigault,  for  many  years  a  Vestryman, 
who  supported  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  during  the 
Revolution  with  a  loan  of  $220,000;  his  son,  Peter  Mani- 
gault, Speaker  of  the  Commons  during  the  first  JSTon-Impor- 
tation  Movement;  his  grandsons,  Edward  Manigault,  a  Major 
in  the  United  States  Army  during  the  Mexican  War,  and 
Colonel  in  the  Confederate  service,  and  Arthur  M.  Manigault, 
also  an  officer  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  Brigadier  General  in 
the  Confederate  service  during  the  late  war;  Isaac  Mazyck, 
the  great  merchant — and  his  son  of  the  same  name,  an  Assis- 
tant Judge;  the  wise  and  noble  William  Wragg,  who,  exiled 
from  his  country  because  ol  his  loyalty  to  his  King,  perished 
at  sea,  to  whose  memory  there  is  a  tablet  in  Westminster 
Abbey;  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney,  General  in  the  Conti- 
nental Army,  member  of  the  Convention  which  framed  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  Minister  to  France, 
long  a  Vestryman  of  the  church;  Charles  Pinckney,  cousin 
of  the  last  named,  one  of  the  exiles  to  St.  Augustine,  member 
of  the  Convention  which  framed  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  L^'nited  States  Senator,  Ministerto  Spain  and 
Governor  of  the  State;  Ralph  Izard,  a  diplomat  of  the  Rev- 
olution, member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  and  Senator 
of  the  United  States;  and  his  son,  George,  Major  General 
in  the  War  of  1812;  Joel  R.  Poinsett,  Secretary  of  War 
and  Minister  to  Mexico;  General  James  Gadsden,  an  officer 
of  distinction  in  the   War  of  1812,  and   Minister  to  Mexico; 


62 

William  Lowndes,  of  whom  it  was  said,  the  liighest  and 
best  hopes  of  the  country  looked  to  him  for  their  fulfillment, 
and  whose  character  has  been  described  by  an  eminent  writer 
"p.s  the  ablest,  purest  and  most  unselfish  statesman  of  his  day," 
who  died  at  sea;  Francis  H.  Rutledge,  the  first  Bishop 
of  Florida;  Charles  T.  Lowndes,  the  eminent  citizen  and 
generous  benefactor  of  the  church;  N.  Russell  Middleton, 
President  of  the  Charleston  College;  Isaac  Hayne,  for 
many  years  A^ttorney  General  of  the  State;  "William  Alston 
Pringle,  Recorder  of  the  City;  and  H.  Henry  Buist,  the 
distinguished  lawyer. 

The  necrology  of  St.  Philip's  is  thus  rich  in  its  material. 
Of  the  dignitaries  of  the  church  in  the  line  of  the  Episcopate 
there  lie  around  her  hallowed  walls  two  Commissaries  of  the 
Bishop  of  London,  three  Bishops  of  the  American  Church, 
and  seven  ministers  who  have  served  at  her  altar.  Of  chief 
magistrates,  two  Colonial  and  three  State  Governors  are 
buried  within  her  precincts,  besides  numbering  among  her 
worshippers  two  other  Colonial  and  four  other  State  Gov- 
ernors, who  are  buried  elsewhere.  Six  Colonial  Chief 
Justices  worshipped  in  her  sanctuary,  four  of  whom  are 
buried  in  her  cemetery.  Two  Presidents  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  and  two  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
were  reared  in  this  church,  one  ol  the  signers  resting  near  her 
walls.  Ambassadors  and  Ministers  have  gone  from  her  to 
foreign  lands,  and  Members  of  Congress  have  been  again  and 
again  chosen  from  her  members.  Soldiei-s  of  all  the  wars,  in 
which  South  Carolina,  Province  and  State,  has  been  engaged, 
lie  within  her  gates.  And  there  also  are  to  be  found  the 
graves  of  men  of  science.  It  is  believed  that  she  has  never 
been  without  a  representation  in  the  Senate  or  House  of  the 
State  Legislature. 

All  of  the  young  men  of  the  church  went  at  once  into  the 
service  of  the  Confederate  States  during  the  late  war,  and  in 
the  vestibule  there  is  placed  this  memorial  of  those  of  them 
who  gave  their  lives  for  Iheir  country  : 


63 


IN    MEMORY    OF 

THOSE  SOLDIERS  OF  THE  CONFEDERATE    STATES 

Connected  with  St.  Philip's  Church, 
Who  Died  For  their  Country. 


HENRY  AUGUSTUS  MIDDLETON,  JR. 

Co.  A,  Hampton  Legion  ;  mortally  wounded  Manassas,  VA., 

21  July,  18GL 

Died  27  July,  1861.     Age  31  Years. 

J.  E.  Mcpherson  Washington. 

1st  Lieut.,  A,  D.  C.  to  Brig. -Gen.  Garnett. 
Died   Montery,  Va..  25  Aug.,  1861.     Aged 24 years. 

EDMUND  SHUBRICK  HAYNE, 

Co.  L,  1  S.  C.  Vols.;  mortally  wounded  Cold  Harbour, Va.,  27  June,  1862 

Died  30  June,  1862.    Aged  18  years, 

ALFRED  GAILLARD  PINCKNEY, 

Co.  L,  1  S.  C.  Vols.;  killed  Cold  Harbour,  Va.,  27  June,  1862. 
Aged  19  years. 

ROBERT  WOODWARD  RHETT, 

1st  Lieut.  Co.  L,  1  S.  C.  Vols.  ;  mortally  wounded  Cold  Harbour,  Va. 

27  June,  1862. 

Died  30  June,  1862.     Aged  23  years. 

WILLIAM  PRITCHARD, 

Co.  A,  25  S.  C.  Vols. 

Died  James  Island,  S.  C,  16  Aug.,  1862.     Aged  30  years. 

NATHANIEL  HEY  WARD,  Jr., 

Co.  L,  1  S.  C.  Vols.;  killed  Manasses,  Va.,  29  Aug.,  1862. 

Aged  19  years. 

HARRY  P.  ROUX, 

Co.  A,  Hampton  Legion;  killed  Manassas,  Va.,30  Aug.,  1862. 

Aged  19  years. 

HENRY  WRIGHT  KINLOCH, 

1st  Lieut.  Co.  D,  6  S.  C.  Cav. 

Died  Aiken,  S.  C,  24  Oct.,  1862.     Aged  30  years. 

JOSEPH  HEYWARD, 

Capt.  A.  A.  G.  Provisional  Army  C.  S. 

Died  7  Novr.,1862.     Aged  32  years. 


64 


WASHINGTON  ALSTON, 
Sergt.  Co.  L,  1  S.  C.  Vols.;  killed  Fredericksburg,  Va.,  13  Dec,  1862. 

Aged  18  years. 

GEORGE  COFFIN  PINCKNEY, 

Co.  L,  1  S.  C.  Vols.;  killed  Fredricksburg,  Va.,  13  Dec,  1862. 

Aged  25  years. 

WILLIAM  GAILLARD  INGRAHAM, 

Lieut.  Co.  B,  Act'g  Adj't.,  23  S.  C.  Vols. 
Died  8  March,  1863.     Aged  22  years. 

JOSEPH  SANFORD  FERGUSON, 

Marion  Art'y- 
Died  15  July,  1863.     Aged  19  years. 

WALTER  EWING  GIBSON, 

Co.  A,  25  S.  C.  Vols.;  killed  Fort  Sumter,  31  Oct.,  1863, 

Aged  18  years. 

JOHN  WEBB, 

Capt.  Co.  K,  2  S.  C.  Vols.;  killed  Spottsylvania,  Va.,  12  May,  1864. 
Aged  26  years. 

JAMES  MERRITT  SCHMIDT, 

Co.  C,  11  S.  C.  Vols. ;  killed  Drewry's  Bluff,  Va.,  16  May,'_1864. 
Aged  31  years. 

FRANCIS  KIN  LOCH  MIDDLETON, 

Co.  K,  4S.  C.  Cav.;  mortally  wounded  Hawes  Shop,  Va.,  28  May,  1864 

Died  30  May,  1864.     Aged  29  years. 

CHARLES  EDWARD  PMOLEAU, 

Co.  K,  4  S.  C.  Cav. ;  killed  Hawes  Shop,  Va.,  28  May,  1864, 
Aged  24  years. 

WILLIAM  HUEY  FAIRLEY, 

Co.  K,,  4  S.  C.  Cav.;  killed  Treviilian's  Sta.,  Va.,  11  June,  1864. 
Aged  27  years. 

WILLIAM  MASON  SMITH, 
1st  Lieut.,  Adjt.   27  S.  C.  Vols.;  mortally  wounded  Cold  Harbour,  Va., 

3  June,  1864. 
Died  Richmond,  Va..,  16  Aug.,  1864.     Aged  21  years. 

MATTHEW  VASSAR  BANCROFT, 

Major  23  S.  C.  Vols. ;  killed  Petersburg,  Va.,  22  June,  1864. 

Aged  25  years. 


65 


ISAAC  BALL  GIBBS, 

Co.  B,  25  S.  C.  Vols.;  killed  Reams  Sta.,  Va.,  21  Aug.,  1864. 
Aged  23  years. 

JACOB  JOHN  GUERARD, 

1st  Lieut. Co.  C,  11  S.  C.  Vols.;  died  in  prison  Fort  Delaware.   14  Sept., 

1864. 
Aged  83  years. 

EDWARD  B.  HEYWARD, 

Marion  Art'y;  diedCliurch  Flats,  S.  C,  6  Dec,  1864. 
Aged  24  years. 

PETER  MANIGAULT, 

Co.  H,  3  S.  C.  Cav.;  killed  Ball's  Ferry,  Oconee  River.  Ga., 

23  Nov.,  1864. 

Aged  59  years. 

ALFRED  MANIGAULT, 

Co.  K,  4  S.  C.  Cav.;  died  Winnsboro,  S.  C,  20  Feb'y,  1865. 

Aged  24  years. 

HENRY  RUSSELL  LESEtSNE, 

Capt.  Co.  H,  1  S.  C.  Regular  Art'y;  killed,  Averysboro,  N.  C, 

16  March,  1865. 

Aged  22  years. 

BURGH  SMITH  BURNET, 

Capt. Co.  F,  1  S.  C.  Regular  Inf'y:  mortally  wounded,  Averysboro,  N.C 

16  March,  1865. 

Died  28  March,  1865.     Aged  28  years. 

FRANCIS  KINLOCH  LESESNE, 
Marion  Art'y;  died  24  June,  1865.     Aged  20  years.' 
5 


PHOTOMOUNT 
PAMPHLET  BINDER 

S4anu/aclurtd  by 

GAYLORD  BROS.  Uc. 

Syrscut*,  N.  Y. 

Stockton,  C«lif. 


